Catherine Yass
dal 26/10/2006 al 8/12/2006
Segnalato da
26/10/2006
Catherine Yass
Galerie Lelong, New York
The artist will present "Lock", a new film shot at the Three Gorges Dam in China's Yangtze River. The film places the viewer, physically and psychologically, at the center of an icon of China's ambitions for industrial growth. In addition, she will show seven new lightboxes of her distinctively surreal and evocative images, also from China.
Lock
In her first solo exhibition in New York, British artist Catherine Yass will present
"Lock", a new film shot at the Three Gorges Dam in China's Yangtze River. Projected
in two parts on opposite sides of the gallery, the film places the viewer,
physically and psychologically, at the center of an icon of China's ambitions for
industrial growth. In addition, she will show seven new lightboxes of her
distinctively surreal and evocative images, also from China. The exhibition opens
to the public on Friday, October 27, from 6 to 8 pm, and the artist will be present.
Yass first became known for her experimentations with photography, creating
lightboxes that explore physical and architectural space and how these environments
are experienced by their inhabitants. Her signature method involves manipulating
both the exposure and development of the film and layering a positive transparency
on top of an altered negative. The results are richly colored, ethereal
abstractions that embody the dualities of reality and illusion, presence and
absence. At once the viewer is given a perspective that is both all-encompassing
and nonexistent.
In 2002, Yass used the same concept with her film "Descent," shooting while
suspended from an 800-ft crane. An 8-minute pan down the side of a tower that is
then projected upside down, "Descent" displayed Yass's minimalist aesthetic and
restrained use of time and movement to heighten the tension between one and one's
surroundings. "Lock" expounds upon these methods as Yass documents a passage
through the Three Gorges Dam. Shot using cameras pointed both forward and backward,
the film shows the journey in two viewpoints simultaneously. The austere, immense
walls and rows of mooring columns are representative of dreams of industrial power
yet recall imagery of ancient temples and pyramids. After moving through the vast
and powerful water, the boat is held in a suspended present, within the gates of the
lock, as it awaits the close of one end of its journey and the entrance into its
next.
Yass has shown in numerous museums and galleries worldwide, including the Tate,
London; Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; and
Tel Aviv Museum of Art. In 2001, she represented Britain at the 10th Indian
Triennale, where she was awarded for her portraits of Bollywood stars and Mumbai
cinema houses. She was shortlisted in 2002 for the Turner Prize, organized by Tate.
In 2003, the Brooklyn Academy of Music premiered Split Sides, a collaboration
between Yass, choreographer Merce Cunningham, and musicians Radiohead and Sigur Ro's.
Pictured:
Stills from Lock, 2006, two simultaneous projections of 16mm film transferred to
HD-MPEG digital files, with sound; running time: 9 minutes, 44 seconds
Opening reception: Friday, October 27, 6-8 pm
Galerie Lelong
528 West 26th Street - New York