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29/11/2007

Are We There Yet

Efa Project Space, New York

Curated by Marco Antonini

Are We There Yet? focuses on works of art that reshape the notion of the natural landscape in an active way, somehow corrupting the integrity of our own idealizations of it. Redefined by direct actions upon its elements, envisioned through the use of technology, or used as a point of departure for daring conceptualizations, the natural landscape is followed and scrutinized in its continuous evolution of form and meaning.

“Are We There Yet?” the child’s obnoxious road-trip refrain, is a question/statement that implies a mix of excitement and inherent dissatisfaction with whatever place the parents might be driving to. Kids (…and artists?) are constantly expanding their knowledge of the natural world and raising the bar for future experiences. In short, they are perennially one step away from their own personal “frontier,” a place of learning as well as a physical threshold.

Are we all in need of a new frontier? All signs point to yes. We seem to be in constant need of expanding our boundaries, extending and streamlining the form and function of the natural landscape and adapting it to the speed, depth and quality of our daily life.>/p>

The outrageous, unsettling interventions of Bill Dolson, Marco Evaristti and Cyprien Gallard pave the way to an ephemeral, anti-monumental approach to Land-Art. Their unmediated approach flirts with vandalism to create statements: works of art that are concerned with the power, agency and the increasing responsibility of humankind for the environment. Our (now more than ever) radical ability and willingness to re-shape the sensible world as well as to “enhance” nature’s work is considered as a way to create new experiences, expectations and desires. Sharing a similar sensibility, the works of Stephane Couturier, John Gerrard, and Kazuhiko Kobayashi shift the focus from the landscape itself to our own personal perception and definition of it through the use of new forms of visualization and the definition of conceptually charged, unexpected point of views.

A special postcard suite will be published for this exhibition. Contact gallery@efa1.org for more information.

Marco Antonini was born in Pescara, Italy. He earned his MA in Art Administration from the University of Bologna. He moved to New York in 2003 and started to nurture a career in writing and curating on the side of several different day jobs. His project NACRE was the recipient of the Project for Emerging Curators (PEC) award of the ISE Foundation in New York. He is the curator of “The Shape of Things to Come”, one of four shows selected to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Artist Residency program, and the producer of “More than Nature”, a screening dedicated to Japanese video and animation trends commissioned by Japan Society, New York.

He works as Gallery Educator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and at PS1. A recipient of the Connors Fellowship at the City College of New York/ CUNY, he is currently studying to get an MA in Art History and Museum Studies. His articles, essays and interviews appear regularly on the pages of Contemporary and BMM. In the recent past, he has contributed to many international publications, including Flash Art, Arte & Critica, AroundPhotography, D and NYArts.

This show would have not be possible without the help and support of all the involved artists, the assistance of Cosmic Galerie (Paris), Ernst Hilger Gallery (Wien) and Laurence Miller Gallery (New York).

This exhibition is presented by EFA Gallery, a program of The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts. EFA Gallery is supported in part by public funds from the New York Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts. Private funding for the Gallery has been received from The Carnegie Corporation Inc., The Foundation for Contemporary Art, The Helen Keeler Burke Charitable Foundation, Peter C. Gould, Materials for the Arts, and many other generous individuals.

EFA Gallery is a multi-arts curatorial project space. Through the gallery, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts supports the creative work of independent curators. Curators build the framework in which we understand artists and the art they make. At their best, they redefine how we look at culture. The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts believes in the essential importance of art in a civil society, and that the value of the artist’s creative spirit is not limited by age, race, nationality or acceptance by others.

Opening reception Friday, November 30, 6-8 PM

EFA Gallery
323 West 39th Street - New York
Gallery Hours: Wed through Sat, 12-6 PM

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