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26/3/2001

Kim Keever

De Chiara Stewart, New York

Metaphors of Nature

De Chiara/Stewart is pleased to announce the second solo exhibition by New York artist, Kim Keever.

Gazing into one of Kim Keever’s panoramic photographs stirs strange feelings of familiarity. At the same time, it can be completely disorienting. In large, mounted cibachrome prints, this New York artist presents us with constructed landscapes straight out of our dreams or subconscious memory. Working within huge fish tanks, Keever creates dioramas out of plaster, colored dye and tap water, and then photographs the results. But, that is the simple way of putting it. Steadfastly clinging to these lowtech materials, Keever has created alien landscapes of both Arcadian splendor and antediluvian desolation. Alien because we are left without reference points to guide us. The artist vacuums up and leaves out all recognizable life from these destinations. No trees shade you; no roads lead you on; no people, animals, or even a bug will greet you. What we are left with are sterile and untouched places floating like a mirage before us, but also leaden with our own collective memories. Splendid because they present candy colored fantasies of what Earth could be and what Paradise might have been before life was added. Swirling pastel towers of clouds engulf majestic and ancient peaks. Giant suns set over barren plains and pull at tidal flows.

For a long time, Keever has explored the gray areas at the edges of Earth Science, and more especially, our shared perceptions of what the Earth is, should be, and can (or will) become. We instantly feel a connection to these pictures upon first seeing them. There is a collective societal hardwiring in us that recognizes Eden, or just leans towards Eden-esque landscapes. These places tug at our heartstrings in some group unconscious dynamic. They exist beyond our presence and, as such, represent an untouched completeness that we yearn for, and jealously despise, all in the same glance.

Nonetheless, for all these romantic notions, there is something lowly and tacked together in these works. The artist consciously uses cheap materials, and knowingly allows his hand to remain visible in all his creations. Upon close inspection, rock outcroppings crop up again and again, salvaged from one photo shoot to the next. Clouds dissolve into algae slime on the inside of a fish tank. Images of the artist himself, and his camera and lights, drape entire landscapes in ghostly reflection from that same fish tank, giving us a clear view of what lays beyond the gates of Paradise.

Opening Reception: March 22, 2001 6 - 8 p.m.

Gallery hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11:00-6:00 pm

DE CHIARA STEWART, 521 West 26th St., New York City 10001

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