During the installation of Sharon Lockhart, Noa Eshkol, Sharon Lockhart talks about what drew her to Eshkol's work, the experience of filming her students, and the installation at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
Gabriel Orozco: Asterisms at the Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin, Germany
Gabriel Orozco: Asterisms at the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin is the last exhibition in Deutsche Guggenheim’s commission program. For this show, Mexican-born artist Gabriel Orozco has created sculptural and photographic installations from the rubble he gathered on two sites in New York and in Baja California, Mexico.
The objects that are displayed on a platform are detritus that Gabriel Orozco gathered at a playing field in New York City. When picking up a boomerang, he noticed the small pieces of rubbish that were lying on the surface of the playing field: rubber bands, labels, coins, etc. He started to collect and categorize them. Gabriel Orozco gave the work the name Astroturf Constellation, referencing the Astroturf of the playing field on Pier 40 in New York.
The second installation is entitled Sandstars. The objects that are spread out on the floor of the Deutsche Guggenheim’s exhibition space come from a protected coastal biosphere and wildlife reserve in Isla Arena, Mexico. This place is also the endpoint of flows of industrial and commercial waste from across the Pacific Ocean: glass bottles, lightbulbs, hard hats, stones, etc. Gabriel Orozco has been there before. From the sands of the wildlife reserve he extracted the whale skeleton that formed the sculpture Mobile Matrix (2006). Sandstars consists of 1,200 objects that now form a monumental sculptural carpet on the gallery floor.
The sculptural work is accompanied by large-scale gridded photographs of images of the individual objects. Gabriel Orozco photographed the objects under natural lighting conditions in his studio and then arranged them according to their material, color, size, etc.
Gabriel Orozco: Asterisms is the 18th and final project in the Deutsche Guggenheim’s commission program that started in 1997. Among the participating artists of the program are John Baldessari, Hanne Darboven, William Kentridge, Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter, James Rosenquist, Andreas Slominski, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Bill Viola, Phoebe Washburn, Lawrence Weiner, Jeff Wall, and Rachel Whiteread.
Gabriel Orozco: Asterisms is curated by Nancy Spector (Deputy Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Museum) and Joan Young (Director, Curatorial Affairs, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum). This video provides you with a tour of the exhibition during the press preview, an introduction to the exhibition by Joan Young, and some atmospheric shots of the opening reception.
More information about the exhibition is also available in the current issue of DB Artmag.
Gabriel Orozco: Asterisms. Solo exhibition at Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin. Interview with Joan Young (Director, Curatorial Affairs, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum). Press preview and opening reception, July 5, 2012.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
The Floor Show: Gravity and Materials at Gagosian Gallery, Beverly Hills, California
The Floor Show: Gravity and Materials
June 16 - July 28, 2012
456 North Camden Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
T. 310.271.9400 F. 310.271.9420
losangeles@gagosian.com
Hours: Tue-Sat 10-6
"The Floor Show: Gravity and Materials," is a group exhibition of floor-based sculpture organized in collaboration with curator Richard D. Marshall. "The Floor Show" explores the variety of ways contemporary artists have expanded the possibility of the sculptural medium by removing it from the once-compulsory pedestal.
In Andy Warhol's painting Dance Diagram (1962), he renders an appropriated diagram for ballroom dance steps on canvas. By installing the painting on the floor rather than the wall, Warhol transforms it into an interactive sculptural object that prefaces his stacked Brillo Boxes. From this early moment, the show bears witness to the ways in which placement on the floor has augured a wealth of thematic elaborations—addressing the effects of gravity, horizontality, randomness, and the physical qualities of materials.
Carl Andre, Robert Morris, Richard Serra and Robert Therrien have focused on materials and their interaction with the floor, taking advantage of their rigidity, flexibility, color, and texture. The precariously balanced steel components of Serra's Malmo Roll (1984) afford the piece a visceral thrill, the plinth-less sculpture highlights the inherent strength and beauty of its medium. In Morris' Untitled (1976), strips of grey felt, hung from the wall, spill onto the floor—thus showcasing the biomorphic textural response of the material's weight and folds to the force of gravity. Andre's The Void Enclosed by Lead and Copper Squares of Three, Four, and Five (1998) is composed of equally proportioned unfinished lead and copper squares, its careful placement on the floor creating an ideal perspective for viewing the literal illustration of the geometric principle Pythagorean triple. Therrien's No title (Pallet) (1997) is shaped like an industrial sleeping pallet, occupying its rightful place on the floor-however, its striking reflective surface transforms this familiar and banal shape into an object of beauty.
The younger generation of artists exhibited have continued to utilize the floor as the support for their work, but they often instill subjective and emotional content not explored by their predecessors. Rachel Whiteread's Black Bed (1991)—a cast polyurethane sculpture of a black mattress lying directly on the floor--startles with its disquieting intimacy and seeming reality. Felix Gonzalez-Torres's UNTITLED (SUMMER) (1993), which consists of a string of lights puddling on the floor, creates an object of memory and loss—reinforced by the light bulb's allusion to personal relationships, and their inexplicable tendency to burn out at different times. In Mike Kelley's Crooked Body (1993), an assemblage of stuffed children's toys is sewn together and strewn haphazardly on the floor to reference the internal despair and longing felt when an object of seeming adoration is quickly discarded. Tom Sachs's 4' x 8' Sheet of Plywood (2011) consists of perfectly square sheets of laminated plywood stacked on the floor. The physical labor represented by the plywood stack is a sacred and integral part of his process, for Sachs, the plywood stack itself becomes an object of devotion.
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| (l to r) Linda Bengliss, Richard Long, Richard Serra, and Carl Andre |
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| Carl Andre |
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| Richard Long |
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| Robert Morris |
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| Linda Bengless |
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| Richard Serra |
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| Felix Gonzalez-Torres |
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| Installation View |
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| Chris Burden |
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| Chris Burden |
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| Keith Sonnier |
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| Tom Sachs |
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| Installation View |
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| Andy Warhol |
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| Mike Kelley |
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| John Chamberlain |
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| Richard Artschwager |
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| Robert Therrien |
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| Jack Pierson |
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| Barry La Va |
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| Rachel Whiteread |
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| Installation View |
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| Mel Bochner |
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| Mel Bochner |
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| Mel Bochner |
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| Mel Bochner |
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| Mel Bochner |
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Group Show "Gape" Curated by New Paragraph - One Night Show at Atwater Crossing June 15th, 2012
ATWATER CROSSING CURATOR IN RESIDENCE: GAPE presents New Paragraph
New Paragraph is a curatorial collective, helmed by artists Emily Marchand, Elyse Reardon-Jung, Eric Vrymoed, and Sam Widaman. As artists working in the Los Angeles area we feed on the vibrant culture and conversations surrounding the art world. Yet frequently the artistic community can seem small and suffocating, overly fixated on parsing out trivia that can stymie the free exchange of ideas. That is why New Paragraph has hit the return key! Rather than drop the conversation altogether we want to introduce familiar concepts in a new light by showing new work from emerging artists on subjects that are as relevant as they are entertaining.
New Paragraph is proud to present its first exhibit ‘Gape’, a site-specific show at Atwater Crossing. Bringing together young talent from across Los Angeles, ‘Gape’ promises to be as titillating as it is timely.
Jay Erker, Sean C. Flaherty, EJ Hill, Emily Marchand, Pat Patricio, Marissa Magdalena, and Elyse Reardon-Jung explore concepts of sexiness and eroticism as both a performance and a commodity. The ways in which women and men are acculturated to define, respond to and in turn perform the erotic presents a quagmire of misaligned priorities and dubious values.
Curators' Statements
"Jay Erker's work was in the bar area. Her work deals with ideas around celebrity, camouflage, and embellishments often used to create an illusion of the ideal. Here, she attempts to over-inflate that idealization that is often internalized and overlooked. We chose this work for the sexy show because we feel that our own personal ideas of sexiness are often watered down by the cultural norm leaving us unfulfilled with what is available. New paragraph was interested in breaking down these norms and roles by creating a dialogue that hopefully speaks to a more realistic and accessible way of representing what is considered "sexy."
Elyse Reardon-Jung's seductive video installation uses prosthetics of sexualized body parts such as nipples and noses that are then displaced on various parts of her body. The nose-clitoris is perhaps the most mesmerizing component of the video, leaving the viewer simultaneously stimulated and confused while trying to figure out the scene laid out before them.
Pat Patricio's sexy bubble bath was meant to confuse and entice the viewer. It was both intimate and seductive leaving passersby desiring to scrub him or pour him a glass of wine. After the bath, Pat emerged in a skimpy, silk robe and joined the rest of the party.
EJ Hill, Devon Kenny, and Jonathan Apgar's band Sexual proved to be a gritty, sultry introduction to their first performance ever. Devon's low howl, EJ's dirty bass and Apgar's driving beats were reminiscent of a Hendrix-era club, smoky and sweaty, leaving everyone in a frenzy.
Sean C Flaherty's Phantom of the Opera projection overtook the room through the dramatic color palette, and the slow, pointed gesture of the touch. As the tension builds, the viewer is left unfulfilled as a climax is never reached.
Emily Marchand's Pink Box is an attempt to expose what is publicly available as sexy audio-erotica and display just how un-sexy and unfulfilled common ideas of sex acts can be. By slowing down and speeding up the voices, she isolates or mashes together hasty moments in compromising sexual positions. While the booth takes on the feel of an exposed shower, the viewer is also protected by the plexi walls from onlookers hearing the content of what they are experiencing allowing them to have a fairly private moment within the space.
Breasts being natural diptychs, Marissa Magdalena created a series of pasties displayed on a group of performers. Each set, custom made by Magdalena represented a self-portrait of each of the wearers. In a overly red-lit hallway leading up to the main exhibition gallery these women negotiated the space where incoming viewers had to walk by. It was a complicated viewing experience because the audience wanted to look at the sculptures but not objectify the women wearing them. This was precisely the outcome Marissa was hoping for which ultimately lead to a further discussion about women as objects.
As a curatorial group, we were interested in how each of the aggressive works could both permeate the other work around it as well as maintain its own identity. The sounds coming from Emily Marchand's Pink Box garbled into the audience, Elyse Reardon Jung's flowing fabric threatened to touch the Pink Box, Pat Patricio's manly bubble bath scent and steamy hot water pervaded the entire room, and Sean C Flaherty's projection encompassed all of the work in the space, like the contents in the video, almost reaching a hand out into the space."
New Paragraph is a curatorial collective, helmed by artists Emily Marchand, Elyse Reardon-Jung, Eric Vrymoed, and Sam Widaman. As artists working in the Los Angeles area we feed on the vibrant culture and conversations surrounding the art world. Yet frequently the artistic community can seem small and suffocating, overly fixated on parsing out trivia that can stymie the free exchange of ideas. That is why New Paragraph has hit the return key! Rather than drop the conversation altogether we want to introduce familiar concepts in a new light by showing new work from emerging artists on subjects that are as relevant as they are entertaining.
New Paragraph is proud to present its first exhibit ‘Gape’, a site-specific show at Atwater Crossing. Bringing together young talent from across Los Angeles, ‘Gape’ promises to be as titillating as it is timely.
Jay Erker, Sean C. Flaherty, EJ Hill, Emily Marchand, Pat Patricio, Marissa Magdalena, and Elyse Reardon-Jung explore concepts of sexiness and eroticism as both a performance and a commodity. The ways in which women and men are acculturated to define, respond to and in turn perform the erotic presents a quagmire of misaligned priorities and dubious values.
Curators' Statements
"Jay Erker's work was in the bar area. Her work deals with ideas around celebrity, camouflage, and embellishments often used to create an illusion of the ideal. Here, she attempts to over-inflate that idealization that is often internalized and overlooked. We chose this work for the sexy show because we feel that our own personal ideas of sexiness are often watered down by the cultural norm leaving us unfulfilled with what is available. New paragraph was interested in breaking down these norms and roles by creating a dialogue that hopefully speaks to a more realistic and accessible way of representing what is considered "sexy."
Elyse Reardon-Jung's seductive video installation uses prosthetics of sexualized body parts such as nipples and noses that are then displaced on various parts of her body. The nose-clitoris is perhaps the most mesmerizing component of the video, leaving the viewer simultaneously stimulated and confused while trying to figure out the scene laid out before them.
Pat Patricio's sexy bubble bath was meant to confuse and entice the viewer. It was both intimate and seductive leaving passersby desiring to scrub him or pour him a glass of wine. After the bath, Pat emerged in a skimpy, silk robe and joined the rest of the party.
EJ Hill, Devon Kenny, and Jonathan Apgar's band Sexual proved to be a gritty, sultry introduction to their first performance ever. Devon's low howl, EJ's dirty bass and Apgar's driving beats were reminiscent of a Hendrix-era club, smoky and sweaty, leaving everyone in a frenzy.
Sean C Flaherty's Phantom of the Opera projection overtook the room through the dramatic color palette, and the slow, pointed gesture of the touch. As the tension builds, the viewer is left unfulfilled as a climax is never reached.
Emily Marchand's Pink Box is an attempt to expose what is publicly available as sexy audio-erotica and display just how un-sexy and unfulfilled common ideas of sex acts can be. By slowing down and speeding up the voices, she isolates or mashes together hasty moments in compromising sexual positions. While the booth takes on the feel of an exposed shower, the viewer is also protected by the plexi walls from onlookers hearing the content of what they are experiencing allowing them to have a fairly private moment within the space.
Breasts being natural diptychs, Marissa Magdalena created a series of pasties displayed on a group of performers. Each set, custom made by Magdalena represented a self-portrait of each of the wearers. In a overly red-lit hallway leading up to the main exhibition gallery these women negotiated the space where incoming viewers had to walk by. It was a complicated viewing experience because the audience wanted to look at the sculptures but not objectify the women wearing them. This was precisely the outcome Marissa was hoping for which ultimately lead to a further discussion about women as objects.
As a curatorial group, we were interested in how each of the aggressive works could both permeate the other work around it as well as maintain its own identity. The sounds coming from Emily Marchand's Pink Box garbled into the audience, Elyse Reardon Jung's flowing fabric threatened to touch the Pink Box, Pat Patricio's manly bubble bath scent and steamy hot water pervaded the entire room, and Sean C Flaherty's projection encompassed all of the work in the space, like the contents in the video, almost reaching a hand out into the space."
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| Sean C. Flaherty |
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| Elyse Reardon-Jung |
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| Elyse Reardon-Jung |
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| Elyse Reardon-Jung |
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| Pat Patricio |
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| Pat Patricio |
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| Pat Patricio |
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| Marissa Magdalena |
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| Emily Marchand |
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| Jay Erker |
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| Jay Erker |
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| Jay Erker |
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| Jay Erker |
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