Rodney Graham
dal 25/10/2001 al 19/1/2002
Segnalato da
25/10/2001
Rodney Graham
Donald Young Gallery, Chicago
City Self/Country Self is the third in a trilogy of short films by Graham that includes Vexation Island, 1997 and How I Became A Ramblin’ Man, 1999. This four-minute travesty, or costume film, set in the 1860s in Senlis, France flips between an urban dandy and a provincial rustic both strolling down cobblestone streets unknowingly aimed towards a clinomatic encounter. Graham uses the tradition of the knockabout gag to comment on the unavoidable configuration of social order and the destructive power of repetition in filmic conventions.
CITY SELF/COUNTRY SELF
Donald Young Gallery is pleased to announce the American premiere of Rodney Graham’s video
projection City Self/Country Self, 2000.
City Self/Country Self is the third in a trilogy of short films
by Graham that includes Vexation Island, 1997 and How I Became A Ramblin’ Man, 1999.
This
four-minute travesty, or costume film, set in the 1860s in Senlis, France flips between an urban
dandy and a provincial rustic both strolling down cobblestone streets unknowingly aimed towards a
clinomatic encounter.
Despite the strangely conspicuous absence of the film’s motivation Graham’s
aim is clear.
He uses the tradition of the knockabout gag to comment on the unavoidable
configuration of social order and the destructive power of repetition in filmic conventions.
The
intellectual foundation of Graham’s art is framed by his interest in Sigmund Freud whose own
studies in systems and regulations led him into thoughts on neuroses.
The film’s circular narrative
structure serves in part as metaphor for the Freudian notion that neuroses can be in one way
explained by repetition replacing linear remembrances of the past.
What the film therefore lacks in
resolve and orientation it makes up for in visual clarity and its keen reflection on the film industry’s
tendency towards self-referentiality.
Also on view will be Graham’s new wallpaper based on the
original 19th century etching from a children’s book that was the inspiration for the film.
Graham has gained international recognition for his work in both video and photography and has
shown recently at Dia Center for the Arts, New York, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus,
Kunsthalle Wein, Vienna, and Kunstverein Münster, Munster. He is currently preparing for solo
exhibitions at Whitechapel, London in Fall 2002, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee in December
2001 and a touring exhibition organized by Art Gallery of Ontario, Ontario and Madison Arts Center,
Madison for 2003.
The reception is free and open to the public.
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10:00 to
5:30 and Saturday, 11:00 to 5:30.
Holiday Hours
Wednesday, November 21st and will remain
closed through Monday, November 26th for the
Thanksgiving Holiday.
The gallery will reopen at 10 am Tuesday, November 27th.
If you would like more information, please contact Rebecca Epstein at 312.455.0100.
Donald Young Gallery
933 W Washington BLVD Chicago IL 60607
tel. 312 455 0100 fax 312 455 0101