JEREMY EARHART "The Thin Ice of Modern Life" 1.15.09 – 2.21.09 Opening Reception 1.15.09, 6 – 8 pm
Goff+Rosenthal is pleased to present a new sculptural installation by American artist Jeremy Earhart. This is Earhart’s first solo exhibition in New York.
In the 1950’s, Robert Rauschenberg broke down traditional boundaries between painting and sculpture and forged new ground in a multitude of media to invent an artistic expression uniquely his own. Similarly, Earhart transforms basic materials such as plastic, string, paint and light into stunning kaleidoscopic relics of Young America. By fastidiously layering countless sheets of hand-cut plastic, Earhart creates his very own hybrid art form. A child of the 1970’s, Earhart was always fascinated by the popular toys of the time – View Master, Color-forms and pop-up books, all of which involve the layering of both color and form. The 3-dimensional forms can be deconstructed and reconstructed again and again, each time taking on a slightly different composition. Neither paintings nor sculptures, but both at once, Earhart’s multi-media composites invade the viewers’ space, demanding their attention, like veritable visual puzzles.
Influenced in part by childhood nostalgia, album cover art and the ambient music of Brian Eno, Earhart’s mixed media sculptures are also rife with historical ornamentation. Stars and stripes, eagle wings, liberty bells, and canons come to life in hues of red white and blue, as well as in gold and silver. Masonic symbols are extrapolated from sources as diverse as the dollar bill and cathedral domes. In one piece, Earhart incorporates the symbol of the All-Seeing Eye, The Great Seal of the United States which also appears on the dollar bill. Only here it is set amidst storm clouds and rain. Perhaps referencing the recent avalanche of major corporate failures or the state of American politics, Earhart plays with the illusion that so much of our economic and political landscape is built on. Exploring a new visual language through mirrored plastic black lights and neon string, Earhart questions what these images mean while exploring how they are interpreted and/or rethought within our contemporary context.
Jeremy Earhart’s work is in the collection of the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation in Los Angeles, California.
