Whale Oil, Slave Ships and Burning Martyrs
Whale Oil, Slave Ships and Burning Martyrs
Priska C. Juschka Fine Art is pleased to present Whale Oil, Slave Ships and Burning
Martyrs, Christine Tarkowski's first solo exhibition in New York City. In a
monumental mixed media installation, Tarkowski explores the manner in which systems
of belief pervade all aspects of our
lives, through the construction of her very own faith-based order.
Rather than first articulating the parameters of her new religion and then
assembling a congregation, Tarkowski
works in a reverse method and begins the process with designing a place
of worship, of which a fragment is on display in this exhibition.
Referencing R. Buckminister Fuller's geodesic structures and his
utopian vision, as well as concepts of sacred geometry-she constructs a
cast-concrete dome formation, composed of geometrically patterned
triangles and embedded lights. The overall structure evokes at once the
mystic aura of Christian cathedrals and the grandeur of the Roman
Pantheon.
Accompanying the dome are additional elements that makeup Tarkowski's
fabricated belief system-propaganda in the form of broadsides, hymns in
the vernacular of alt punk-country, and a photographic
(essay-monologue) that serves as a visual legend by way of screen
prints and a pamphlet. Provocative and resonant, statements such as
"I've got my Insurance {if they keep praying for me}" and "Thirsty
Woman if You Drink this Water you'll never be Thirsty Again!",
poignantly frame the acute underpinnings of her vision. The hymns,
created in collaboration with Jon Langford (of the Mekons), are melodic
recitations of related ideas. A grid of color photographs further
articulates Tarkowski's critical narrative, as they offer simple visual
juxtapositions that chronicle the project as a whole.
Together, these components set the stage for Tarkowski's
alternative vision, while maintaining and opposing their original
reference point of existing faith-based entities. In reversing the
system's development process, and drawing from our immediate societal
concerns, Tarkowski delivers a pertinent critique of the current construct of our
society.
Tarkowski lives and works in Chicago, IL. She holds a BFA
from Parsons School of Design, and an MFA from the School of the Art
Institute of Chicago. She has exhibited widely in major institutions
such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, MASS MoCA, Museum of
Contemporary Art, St. Louis, the California Museum of Photography,
Riverside, the UCLA Gallery of Architecture and Urban Planning, and the
Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens, NY. She is the recipient of numerous
awards and grants including a Creative Capital grant (2001) and the
Driehaus Award (2005). She was commissioned in 2006 to create a
permanent installation for the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park in
Illinois.
Opening: Thursday, September 6, 6 - 9 PM.
Priska C. Juschka Fine Art
547 West 27th Street - New York
Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 11:00 to 6:00 PM or by appointment.
Free admission