Kevin Appel
Oliver Boberg
Carlos Garacoia
Ewan Gibbs
Doug Hall
Matthias Hoch
Candida Hofer
Damien Smith
Jessica Snow
Andre Yi
A group exhibition of artists exploring the style, design, construction, and the systematization of elements and processes needed to build. The exhibit consists of works in all media by artists inspired by, observing, mimicking, or pushing the boundaries of how buildings are made, imagined, or documented. Artists included are Kevin Appel, Oliver Boberg, Carlos Garacoia, Ewan Gibbs, Doug Hall, Matthias Hoch, Candida Höfer, Damien Smith, Jessica Snow, and Andre Yi.
From the end of July through August, Rena Bransten Gallery will present "ARTitecture", a group exhibition of artists exploring the style, design, construction, and the systematization of elements and processes needed to build. The exhibit consists of works in all media by artists inspired by, observing, mimicking, or pushing the boundaries of how buildings are made, imagined, or documented. Artists included are Kevin Appel, Oliver Boberg, Carlos Garacoia, Ewan Gibbs, Doug Hall, Matthias Hoch, Candida Höfer, Damien Smith, Jessica Snow, and Andre Yi.
The selected artworks cover many aspects of architectural representation. Kevin Appel draws houses formed by overlapping planes of color; they were shown at MOMA-Queens at the end of 2002 in the exhibition Drawing Now: Eight Propositions. Oliver Boberg makes intricate models of construction sites complete with partial buildings, pallets of bricks, lumber, construction debris, caution tape, and scaffolding then photographs them. Carlos Garacoia winds thread around wall tacks to form floor plans of selected buildings in his native Cuba that are physically attached to scale models. Using single repeated circular markings, Ewan Gibbs makes pencil and ink drawings of buildings that appear to be pixilated renderings on graph paper; their intricacy is spellbinding. Candida Höfer, Doug Hall, and Matthias Hoch's color photographs reflect each artist's interest in architectural embellishment, minimalism, or economy in public and private spaces. Damien Smith's precise pencil drawings of stairwells look like black and white photographs from an Architectural Digest article touting the complexity of wall angles in the featured designs. Both Jessica Snow's abstract painting of a city layout with bridges to satellite areas and Andre Yi's paintings of floating buildings seem to concretize imaginary buildings of either the future or of dreams.
Dates: July 22 through August 21, 2004
Gallery closed from August 22 through September 6
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday 10:30 to 5:30, Saturdays 11 to 5.
Rena Bransten Gallery
77 Geary Street
San Francisco