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08 January 2007 | Photography / Film & Video January 2007 |
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 Gladstone
Gallery, New York GARY HILL Gladstone Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of new work by Gary Hill. A pioneer of video art, Hill masterfully incorporates aspects of installation, sound, and imagery to create poetic and thought-provoking pieces teasing out the nuances of communicative interactions. His continued investigations into the intersection between representation and language have created a body of video installations that question and reinterpret the cognitive processes that create meaning. For this exhibition, Hill will present two new works commissioned and previously shown by the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris. Their New York debut will mark Gary Hill’s fourth show at Gladstone Gallery. Representations of the body factor heavily into Hill’s weighty investigations, which incorporate extrapolations of social roles in order to examine the current political climate. In a recent piece Guilt, Hill has created gold coins minted with his own portrait, undergoing fictive scenes of torture. Viewed from afar through telescopes, recognizing the artist’s face on these miniatures at once brings the impact of humiliation into the viewer’s frame of mind, highlighting, through its installation, the uneasiness of the dominate/subordinate dialectical posture so often assumed in everyday life. Hill queries the existence of a stance of viewership in which the dominant position does not come into play. In light of the images of Abu Ghraib having been seared into the common memory, what does the telescopic view of suffering achieve, if only to vouchsafe a position of domination within communicative forms? Hill’s installation, through its use of the metaphor of market exchange, distances the true impact of brutality, even when the acts of surveillance bring it so close to the viewer’s body. Using the homophone that brings to mind both shame and the gilt surface of the coin, the carefully fabricated mock currency allows for the reification of both the economic influence, as well as the psychic repercussions. Image : Gary Hill, Frustrum, 2006, Courtesy of Gladstone Gallery, New York Gallery website Read on... Gladstone Gallery, New York |
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 Ellen de Bruijne
PROJECTS, Amsterdam Dora Garcia | Anthony Howard & Jacob Septimus Dora Garcia - Zimmer, Gespräche, 2006 The encounter in a Leipzig apartment between a Stasi officer and a civilian informant is the chosen setting for Zimmer, Gespräche ('Rooms, conversations'). The Stasi was the all-powerful East-German political police until the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. However, neither the Stasi nor the city of Leipzig are ever mentioned explicitly. The video is thus set in an undetermined time and space, only discernible through the accent of the actors, the clothes they wear, the furniture and the architectural backdrop. Constructing a realist scene or reconstructing a historical situation is not Dora García's intention, and Rooms, conversations is neither a documentary nor a documentary fiction. What García seeks is to use the parameters of a given historical situation in order to communicate abstract notions such as fear, control, authority, dependency, obedience, absurdity, and power. All notions that are closely connected to issues of secrecy, archiving, the community, or the codes of human behaviour: recurring themes in the work of the Spanish artist. Anthony Howard & Jacob Septimus, B.I.K.E., 2006 There are documentaries about issues (Michael Moore comes to mind) and documentaries that introduce unknown subcultures (like last year's brilliant hip-hop testament "Rize") and documentaries that are detailed character studies (the rock-themed "Dig" or Terry Zwigoff's "Crumb" are two great examples), but very few movies successfully combine all three. With "B.I.K.E.," filmmakers Jacob Septimus and Anthony Howard have hit the trifecta by creating a film that manages to present a largely unknown movement in terms of vivid real-life characters, and the results are great. Beginning as an explication of the militant anti- corporate bike protests that have taken root in American cities in the past decade, "B.I.K.E." appears at first to be a typical if stylishly directed leftist rant against big oil and consumer conformity. But gradually, the film reveals a radical subculture within a radical subculture: the tallbike gangs of New York, who ride double frame bicycles of about six feet in height, and engage in punk rights of heraldry, ritualistically jousting each other on the night- shrouded streets of the city. Heads break, necks crack, drugs are consumed in mass quantities, and the inherent contradictions of radical individualists attempting to maintain a group identity implode, reform and implode yet again, in an absolutely fascinating tour of a modern netherworld. Ray Greene, www.bike-films.com Images, from top : Dora García, Zimmer, Gespräche (Rooms, conversations), 2006, video, colour/sound, 31 min. Written and directed by Dora García. Original language: German. Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, and Dutch. Anthony Howard / Jacob Septimus, B.I.K.E., 2006 Video, colour/black/white/sound, 89 min. Gallery website Read on...Ellen de Bruijne PROJECTS, Amsterdam |
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 HASTED HUNT, New
York SO FAR, SO GOUDE : JEAN-PAUL GOUDE Jean-Paul Goude, best known as the man who "created" Grace Jones, has been one of the greatest contemporary imaginations and seminal taste makers since the 1970's. The Hasted Hunt exhibition is being produced in conjunction with his book So Far So Goude (Assouline 2005) which chronicles his artistic journey not only as a photographer but also as major creative force in the US and Europe. For more than thirty years, through drawing, poster design, photography, cinema, video, and event design, Jean-Paul Goude has made an impression, in every sense, on our imagination. From the fops of the ‘60's to the legendary Esquire magazine of the following decade, from the New York of Andy Warhol and mixed cultures, to Grace Jones for whom he was Pygmalion, for the spectacular Bicentennial Parade in Paris in 1989 to the celebration of "Style Beur" (Arab Style"), from ads for Kodak and Chanel (Egoiste) to working with the latest supermodels – Goude has triumphantly captured, time after time, the spirit of his age. --From the overleaf of So Far So Goude Staging models and working with basic tools - literally an exacto blade, paste, and paint - and withoutcomputers, he anticipated the current age of Photoshop and made possible a generation of contemporary artists like David LaChappelle, Philip- Lorca di Corcia and Anthony Goicolea. Fresh, fantastic, and fabulous, Jean-Paul Goude is a unique artist for both the 20th and 21st centuries. His theatricality and use of scale and color are fueled by his feverish imagination. Recent projects include a fashion spread for The New York Times Magazine and installation at Azzedine Alaia in Paris. Goude's talent is further distinguished by his appreciation of and love for a line of beautiful women that has ranged from Toukie Smith, Grace Jones, Farida to his Korean- American wife Karen ("The Queen of Seoul"). He lives and works in Paris. Image : Jean-Paul Goude, Fania Niang, Paris, 1984, Digital c-print. Courtesy of Hasted Hunt, New York Gallery website Read on...HASTED HUNT, New York |
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 Galerie Aurel
Scheibler, Berlin Jack Pierson - The Golden Hour Our exhibition “Jack Pierson — The Golden Hour” presents one of the most influential American artists of the middle generation for the first time in Berlin in a solo show. This is Pierson’s seventh exhibition in our gallery (formerly located in Cologne), and the focus is on major early works from the years 1984–1994. Jack Pierson was born in 1960 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. After completing his studies in Boston, in the 1980s he was constantly on the move between New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and Paris, before settling in New York in the early 1990s. With his photographic works from this early period, atmospheric images of a restless existence between metropolises, and his distinctive “Wordpieces”, Pierson soon became well-known, and in 1992 our gallery presented his work in Europe for the first time. The exhibition takes its title from a photographic work of 1994, “The Golden Hour”, which describes the moment of sunset, a magical crépuscule that was often used in Hollywood films of the period, bathing them in a warm light. Pierson’s film of 24 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which are blank, without names, tells a story of glorification and its dark side. This work is a representative example of the themes of nostalgia, loneliness, fame, and “the romantic presence of the vast expanse that is America”, which are pivotal in Pierson’s oeuvre. Thus Pierson stands in the same tradition as artists and writers such as Jack Kerouac, John Steinbeck, Edward Hopper, Robert Frank, and Andy Warhol. Apparently there is an autobiographical component that runs through Pierson’s work until the present day: the gesamtkunstwerk form, which consists of installations, painting, drawing, photography, film, and his famous “Wordpieces”. Exhibitions designed by Pierson tell a story that is full of emotion and vulnerability. This sets Pierson apart from so-called pop culture and the superficiality of many of his contemporaries. Image : Jack Pierson, Ohne Titel (Palms), 2003, Iris Print. Courtesy of Galerie Aurel Scheibler, Berlin Gallery website Read on... Galerie Aurel Scheibler, Berlin |
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 g39, Cardiff,
Wales Media Attention : David Blandy, Richard Dedomenici, Ben Young. Curated by Cassandra Needham Media Attention brings together 3 emerging artists who, in very different ways, appropriate the strategies of contemporary popular culture. Continuing the tradition of Pop Art, the artists presented here explore the extent to which popular culture forms and informs the contemporary psyche. Producing medium-reflexive work, they co-opt the rhetoric of television, music and film, highlighting slippages between fantasy and reality in everyday life. Fame Asylum 2006, is Richard Dedomenici’s most ambitious project to date. Realized in collaboration with Channel 4 and National Refugee Week, Dedomenici has formed a fledgling boy band comprised of four young asylum seekers. Working within the realm of socially engaged art, Dedomenici attempts to raise awareness around the complex socio-political issue of immigration. Through the documentation of perfomative acts, the video works of David Blandy also raises questions about the exploitation or celebration of other cultures. Often recording himself lip-synching to the lyrics of pop songs or well-known film scenes, Blandy’s short videos and related projects question the extent to which the self is formed through mass media. The work of Ben Young pushes this slippage into fantasy even further. In his latest film The Sons of l'Homme Doré, 2006, Young has created his own myth; a sci-fi film written, directed and starring himself and employing his family as supporting cast and production crew. Within an alternative reality, Young constructs for himself an empowered male role, rendering visual the notion of man as strong, adventurous and in charge of his own destiny. Image : Ben Young, Production shot of "The Sons of l'Homme Doré" Gallery website Read on... g39, Cardiff, Wales |
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 MOT,
London FALK : AMANDA BEECH “A young wife in a Scandinavian town, a new and unexpected baby and the threat to everything he stands for is on the line. How could a stranger’s death in far-away Miami have anything to do with a situation like this? He knew the mysterious forces that pervaded the operations, and the dangers he faced in his detection of undercover political games. Chased, stalked, watched. When vital evidence is being withheld – or even faked - and a sadistic killer is at large, he knew he couldn’t succumb to political pressure, or press harassment. He went in eyes open. Practical and efficient. When such a man is convinced there is no stopping him. He knew it would be a battle for his life.” - (Amanda Beech, from the essay Car Squeeze, FALK, published by MOT international 2006) Amanda Beech will complete the current cycle of exhibitions at MOT by premiering her latest video work, FALK, 2006, espousing her interest in the relationship between democracy and violence in neo- liberalism. Beech utilises the private thoughts, covert actions, particular interests and certain histories of key players, at the heart of Norway’s post-war past and its present politico- economics. She delves into evidence of a scandal that implicates government, corporations, the mafia, terrorists, federal, national and state agencies and the police. Using footage shot in Norway, Beech overlays a populist narrative styled text to biography the actions of a central protagonist, the lone conspiracy theorist as he uncovers his own ‘Watergate’. We also enter the mind of his undefined pursuer. As a result of this juxtaposition the audience is left to piece together the evidence, decide between fact and fiction, documentary and narrative. Throughout, the work is infused with the underlying language of fear emanating from the heart of suggested international corruption. We become confused as to who is hunting down who and the reality of truth, as the evidence is projected at us under the guise of culture. The protagonist becomes artist, the artist the protagonist and the media savvy audience becomes implicated, the plot can only thicken. Gallery website Read on...MOT, London |
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 Polvo,
Chicago Familiar Portraits Photo installation by Edra Soto One way of acquiring an immediate sense of ownership to space, person and moment you are living in life is the simple action of taking a picture of it. A way to review our tendencies, impulses or compulsions is by going in retrospect and examining our past approaches. In Familiar Portraits, Edra Soto examines the ordinary process of taking pictures of things we love; our pets, our babies, possessions, etc. and project a view on how we reclaim things in life; our sense of ownership. For this sociological approach, the artist invited a group of friends and family to participate in this visual survey. Soto asked them to donate pictures they have taken of their beloved ones (pets, babies, etc). All their contributions constitute her personal narrative of what "familiar" means. Familiar Portraits is presented as an installation (narrow space defined by two walls inside the gallery space) displaying a series of photo collections interrelated by the artist. Some of the photographs are perceptive and others are fictional representation. The fictional representations are digital manipulations created by the artist and are integral to the narrative of this project. In Familiar Portraits, Soto utilize hierarchical classifications, proportions and sets to create visual and organizational schemes. Soto's interest in classic subjects like portraits, still lifes and landscapes have led her to a personal questioning about the social concept of family, extended families, the people or animals we live with, who we love and why. Image : Edra Soto, Fondness 2006. Courtesy of Polvo, Chicago Gallery website Read on...Polvo, Chicago |
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 Winkleman / Plus
Ultra Gallery, New York Victor Skrebneski : Athletes Winkleman / Plus Ultra Gallery is delighted to present "Athletes," a series of new work by legendary photographer Victor Skrebneski. Organized by Oksana Salamatina, this exhibition presents Skrebneski's large- scale black and white portraits of athletes who competed in the 2006 Gay Games Sports and Cultural Festival in Chicago. Better known for his highly inventive fashion photography and strikingly reductive celebrity portraits, Skrebneski chose his subjects in this series to reflect diversity within gender, race, ethnic origin, age, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Still apparent throughout, of course, is Skrebneski's signature highlighting of the sculptural in the human form, but the frequent juxtaposition of more formal poses with action or illuminating close-ups reveals the contradictions within the personality of an athlete, at once both fiercely competitive and generously hopeful. Furthermore, in stark contrast to the often-demoralizing cultural war waging over gay rights in the U.S., Skrebneski's portraits exude an unabashedly optimistic spirit of strength, beauty, resolve, pride and pure joy. Victor Skrebneski is considered one of the finest fashion, figural and portrait photographers of all time. His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the Nassau County Museum of Art in New York, the Oragne County Museum of Art in New Port Beach, CA, and numerous contemporary art galleries in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris. Gallery website Read on... Winkleman / Plus Ultra Gallery, New York |
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