Igor Mischiyev
dal 17/2/2003 al 15/3/2003
Segnalato da
17/2/2003
Igor Mischiyev
Sandra Gering Gallery, New York
In Infinite Home, the definitions of public and private fold in and around each other. Viewers enter the 'home', supposedly a private space, but have no access to the public space viewed through the 'windows'. This confusion between public/private-interior/exterior is further amplified by silhouettes of white birds placed on the gallery's storefront windows.
Mischiyev's previous exhibition, Multi Story Car Park, featured photographs
of indoor parking garages. In his digitally reworked images, Mischiyev
transformed these anonymous public spaces into pristine, intimate
environments. He concentrated on the garages' "non-places" -- unusable
spaces -- adding textures and furniture that evoked a domestic setting.
While in Multi Story Car Park the viewer peered into an interior world, in
Infinite Home, the viewer enters a constructed environment and peers
out. Mischiyev expands his involvement with architecture by transforming
the gallery into a domestic landscape. Photographic lightboxes loosely
represent windows; a geometric sculpture references a clothes rack; white
carpet covers the gallery floor; wallpaper covers one wall.
The photographs in the two lightboxes were taken out of the window of
Mischiyev's Berlin apartment. Mischiyev digitally touched up the images,
removing trash and signs of wear and tear, leaving strangely un-touched
landscapes. No people or indications of their presence
remain. Contrasting with this surrealistic absence of human presence,
viewers entering the gallery/home will alter it by tracking dirt on the
initially pristine white carpet. Mischiyev does not intend the carpet to
be cleaned during the exhibition; so the interior space will become
gradually dirtier, while the fictionalized exterior will remain clean and
idealized. By bringing the domestic act of cleaning out of the personal
space and into the urban area, Mischiyev unfolds the space of the home,
expanding its boundaries.
In Infinite Home, the definitions of public and private fold in and around
each other. Viewers enter the "home", supposedly a private space, but have
no access to the public space viewed through the "windows". This confusion
between public/private-interior/exterior is further amplified by
silhouettes of white birds placed on the gallery's storefront windows. It
becomes unclear where the transition from inside to outside takes
place. Photographic wallpaper depicting an urban landscape again addresses
the illusion of boundaries, bringing an exterior scene into the
domesticated gallery.
Infinite Home refers to the term the Philips company coined for a
futuristic line of "smart" house appliances.
Please join us for the opening of Igor Mischiyev, Infinite Home, on
TUESDAY, February 18th, 6-8pm.
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10am-6pm. For further
information please contact Marianna Baer at 646.336.7183 or
marianna@geringgallery.com.
Sandra Gering Gallery
534 West 22nd Street, NY 10011
New York