Robert Sagerman On and On: Inquiries into Indeterminacy
April 30-June 13
Reception: Thursday, April 30, 6-8 pm
Artist's talk: Friday, May 15, 6:30 pm
Thatcher Projects is pleased to announce Robert Sagerman's fourth solo exhibition, which offers a notable development of his strikingly distinctive work. Sagerman's painting, paradoxically, combines a visual opulence with a rigorous, even ascetic, approach to art-making. His meticulous process involves the application of thousands of "marks" of oil paint using dozens of colors that he mixes and applies in thick, textural layers. The final achievement is an energetic work that radiates an imposing physical, spiritual and intellectual presence.
In the exhibition's title, Sagerman points to the dichotomous relationship between the overwhelming sensuality of his work (the repeated word "on" in the title indicating this surface quality) and the more numinous directedness at the work's core (the "in" and "into"). The latter dimension is reflected in Sagerman's counting practice as well. The titles of Sagerman's paintings derive from the number of applied daubs of paint that make up each work, which he counts as he paints in a manner that hearkens back to the medieval Jewish mystical practice that was the subject of his studies. Sagerman earned his doctorate in Jewish mysticism from New York University in 2008. His academic work has centered, firstly, around the historical impact of kabbalah on art and, secondly, upon the Jewish mystic Abraham Abulafia (1240-ca. 1291), founder of an influential school known as the Prophetic Kabbalah.
Sagerman's work is widely exhibited both nationally and internationally. His work has been reviewed in Art in America and ArtNews, among other publications. There will be an artist's talk at the gallery on May 15, featuring critic and art historian Michael Amy. Mary Birmingham, Director of Exhibitions at the Hunterdon Art Museum, will moderate the discussion.
Gallery Symposium: On and On: Inquiries into Indeterminacy
Margaret Thatcher Projects will host a Gallery Symposium on the occasion of Robert Sagerman's exhibition,On and On: Inquiries into Indeterminacy. Friday May 15, 2009, 6:30pm The discussion will feature Micha�l Amy, Mary Birmingham and Robert Sagerman.
Both the formal and conceptual qualities of Robert Sagerman's work aim to engage the viewer. For Micha�l Amy, the work of Monet and Seurat constitute points of departure for Sagerman's innovations. "Monet explored the viscosity of paint in unprecedented ways, while building up a system of individualized brushstrokes and relaxing the oily matter's representational function," writes Amy. Following Greenberg, Amy also notes that Monet went on to develop the method of all-over painting in his late pictures. In Seurat's work, Amy writes, "Time eats away at things, dematerializing the object."
For Sagerman, dematerialization is central to a conceptual approach to his work. Sagerman's perspective draws heavily upon his studies of kabbalah, in which he holds a Ph.D., and its relationship to art and art history. Referring to some of his own published work on the subject, Sagerman traces the direct influence of medieval Jewish mysticism upon the Sistine Ceiling and the work of Marcel Duchamp. Ultimately, Sagerman's idiosyncratic art-making practice bears the imprint of this tradition.
Following the two talks, the floor will be opened for discussion. Mary Birmingham of the Hunterdon Art Museum will moderate the proceedings.
The participants: Micha�l J. Amy is a critic, art historian, curator and lecturer with a Ph.D. from New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. He is an Associate Professor of the History of Art in the College of Imaging Arts & Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology. His book One to One: Conversation avec Tony Oursler (Brussels, Facteur Humain) was published in 2006, and Micha�l Borremans: Whistling a Happy Tune (Ghent, Ludion) appeared in 2008. His book Hiroshi Senju is forthcoming (Skira, 2009). Micha�l Amy is a frequent contributor to Sculpture.
Mary Birmingham has, since 2007, been Director of Exhibitions at the Hunterdon Art Museum, in Clinton, New Jersey, where she has curated numerous contemporary art shows. Previously she worked at the Montclair Art Museum and as an independent curator and writer. She received an MA in Art History from Hunter College, CUNY, where her thesis topic was "Stuart Davis in 1940: New Subject Matter." She is a co-author of "Montclair Art Museum: Selected Works" (2002) and author of "Dynamic Impulse: The Drawings of Stuart Davis" (2007).
Robert Sagerman's artwork is widely exhibited both nationally and internationally. His work has been reviewed in Art in America and featured in ArtNews. He holds a Ph.D. in Hebrew and Judaic Studies and an MA in Religious Studies from New York University, and MAs in Art History and Fine Arts from Pratt Institute. His published work includes the articles, "A Kabbalistic Reading of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling" and "The Syncretic Esotericism of Egidio da Viterbo and the Development of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling Program," both in Acta ad Archaeologiam et Artium Historiam Pertinentia (vols. 16 and 19).
Robert Sagerman On and On: Inquiries into Indeterminacy continues through June 13
Upcoming exhibition: Heidi Van Wieren From the Badlands: Gluescapes and Constructed Drawings June 18-July 25, 2009
