Terence Koh
dal 8/6/2007 al 14/7/2007
Segnalato da
8/6/2007
Terence Koh
de Pury & Luxembourg, Zurich
God
God
de Pury & Luxembourg is proud to present GOD, a solo exhibition by Terence Koh (b. 1978, China).
With GOD, Koh expands his reflections on spirituality and myths by
illuminating the theme of Christianity while inserting himself into one of the
most iconic works of Western art history, Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper.
The central work in the exhibition consists of a 1:1 scale of the Last Supper
scenario. Koh has interpreted the disciples as skeletons casted in black wax
as they feast on a double wax cast of Koh’s body. The artist has become the
last supper itself. A colony of poisonous ants is embedded and living within
the central figures of Jesus and the casts of Koh’s body - alluding to an
interconnection between the artist, Christianity, and notions of a higher power,
all the while infused with a tension and feel that can be properly characterized
as sadomasochist and ritualistic.
Additional works in the exhibition include a forest of sculptures made of exact
casts of Koh’s arms atop anthills, a room filled with paintings made in situ in
utter darkness, in a trance-like state reached through intense meditation and
reflection. The exhibition space has been entirely covered in giant rolls of
black plastic sheets, transforming the gallery into a space reminiscent of a
dark dungeon, unapologetically terrifying and electrifying.
For the opening reception, Koh will further transform the gallery with a
performance in the form of a party. Thunderous drum n’ bass music,
stroboscope lights and partygoers will fill the gallery, and the remnants will
become part of the installation thereafter. The party itself will be documented
and published in the catalogue produced on the occasion of GOD.
Since Koh’s first solo exhibition at Peres Projects, Los Angeles in May 2003,
then working under the name of Asianpunkboy, he has become an
internationally renowned artist via his signature works combining
performance, sculpture, painting, artist books, video and photography. Koh’s
works can be found in museum collections that include the Museum of
Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The
Tate Modern, London; and The Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean,
Luxembourg. In addition to his many solo exhibitions at Peres Projects, both in
Los Angeles and Berlin, Koh has presented various performances and
installations at the Asia Song Society (ASS), a project space/gallery he coowns
with Javier Peres. Recent institutional solo exhibitions include Wiener
Secession, Vienna (catalogue); the Zurich Kunsthalle, Zurich (catalogue),
curated by Beatrix Ruff; and, the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
(catalogue), curated by Shamim Momin. Forthcoming solo museum
exhibitions include Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, curated by Martina Weinhart;
and The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, curated by Norman Rosenthal.
Information and visual material
Jutta Nixdorf +41 79 3718734 j.nixdorf@depuryluxembourg.com
Stephanie Schleiffer +41 44 2768022 s.schleiffer@depuryluxembourg.com
Opening Saturday June 9 2007, 6 – 8 pm
de Pury & Luxembourg
Limmatstrasse 264, 8005 Zurich