Two solo shows
dal 25/2/2009 al 3/4/2009
Segnalato da
25/2/2009
Two solo shows
Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco
Doug Hall's exhibit, In Retrospect, displays images that he describes as "having a direct relationship to language and selected from earlier works". Tommy Stockel's exhibit, Simulation & Decoration, will consist of collages that refer to his main installation, an expanse of gridded boxes that appear to be cubby holes or miniature rooms.
Doug Hall's exhibit, In Retrospect, displays images that he describes as "hav[ing] a
direct relationship to language and, as the title implies, were selected from
earlier works". Works from different series featuring newspapers, television,
magazines clips, his own shooting excursions or fabrications, graphically describe
this relationship. Terminal Landscape iterates Hall's response to our massive
bombardment by media images which he feels we, in turn, appropriate for our own use
in our imaginations, personal narratives and fantasies. Non-Places, feature black
and white photographs, sometimes accompanied by separate images of text, of
architectural spaces - corridors, transitional zones, transit pathways - that we
traverse unconsciously but which Hall feels impact our psyches nonetheless. In
Photographs of Books, a 2001 series of manipulated images, Hall says, "The idea was
to photograph books opened to passages that were particularly meaningful to me and
situate them in, or juxtaposed to, scenes that reflected my associations with them."
Hall's work has been collected by many museums and was recently included in
California Video, an exhibition highlighting the span of the video medium in
California over the past 50 years, held at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Tommy Støckel's exhibit, Simulation & Decoration, will consist of collages that
refer to his main installation, an expanse of gridded boxes that appear to be cubby
holes or miniature rooms - some empty, others featuring a lone person. Each square
in his grids has lines and shadings that give either a sense of depth or convexity.
When figures appear, the boxes become deep observation modules with the inhabitants
on stage, simulating representatives of a somewhat global population - athlete,
maid, musician, policeman, sheikh. However, it is up to viewers to determine whether
the figures are posing or actually observing us - their world simulating ours - or
whether they are part of the room's decor. Empty boxes may fool the eye and push
out into the space as a pure optical illusion, embellishing the texture of the
grid's geometric appeal. Støckel has a knack for integrating tricks of perception
with micro and macro principles to shrink or expand his forms, delighting and
engaging viewers.
Støckel studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art in Copenhagen, Denmark and
has exhibited extensively around the world. This is his second exhibition at the
Rena Bransten Gallery.
Image: Tommy Støckel
Reception: Thursday, February 26, 5:30-7:30PM
Rena Bransten Gallery
77 Geary Street - San Francisco
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday 10:30AM to 5:30PM and Saturday 11:00AM to 5PM.
Free admission