Fantasy Underfoot
dal 16/12/2002 al 10/3/2002
Segnalato da
16/12/2002
Fantasy Underfoot
Corcoran Gallery Art, Washington
The 47th Corcoran Biennial features thirteen artists whose work of the past two years mines the legacy of both conceptual art and the 'new media' of the 1960s. These artists were selected on the basis of the impact of their work and the ways they resolve complex theoretical issues using approaches that are readily accessible. Their videos, films, photography, paintings, drawings, sculpture, installations, and digital works all employ familiar or easily understood forms designed to quickly seduce and engage the viewer.
Washington, DC - The 47th Corcoran Biennial explores the legacy of conceptual art and the "new media" of the late 1960s through the work of 13 contemporary artists who employ familiar or popular forms, such as cinema, illustration, and interactive digital media, for overtly conceptual ends. Fantasy Underfoot opens at the Corcoran Gallery of Art on December 21, 2002, and continues through March 10, 2003. The exhibition incorporates a range of media, including video, film, photography, installation, digital media, drawing and painting.
Fantasy Underfoot showcases the following established and emerging artists: Linda Besemer, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, Nancy Davidson, Marcel Dzama, Jacob El Hanani, Ken Feingold, Kojo Griffin, Tim Hawkinson, Bruce Nauman, Nigel Poor, Susan Smith-Pinelo and Bruce Yonemoto.
The title of the exhibition is a reference to two diametrically opposed notions - the conceptual and the concrete - that are suggested by this grouping of contemporary artworks. On the one hand, Fantasy Underfoot presents artists whose pieces are conceptual, abstract, and imaginary. On the other hand, the works suggest that fantasy and the abstract world of ideas are, in today's art world, concrete matters, issues of the here and now.
"The artists in this exhibition were selected for the impact of their work and the ways they resolve aesthetic and conceptual issues using a conceptual vernacular," says Jonathan P. Binstock, the Corcoran's curator of contemporary art who organized the exhibition. "Their work is complex, ambitious and challenging.
"At the same time, today's artists understand the ability of multimedia formats like film and video to provide familiar environments that allow viewers to connect with works of art," he added.
EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS
* Dances with Hip Hop is a video installation by Washington, DC-based artist Susan Smith-Pinelo. In this work, a stack of three television monitors depict a fractured female body. Video images of a head, chest and pelvis move suggestively to the sound of hip hop tunes, though the music cannot be heard by viewers. Dances with Hip Hop is an exploration of Smith-Pinelo's love-hate relationship with hip hop music and video culture.
* Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller's critically acclaimed cinematic installation, The Paradise Institute, was created in 2001. This 13-minute digital video is shown in a miniature theater (120 x 449 x 201 inches) that seats 16 people. The Canadian video and sound artist team use narrative and advanced technology to intentionally blur the distinction between what is real and what is fiction. Binaural audio creates the sensation that the film's protagonists may be in the theater with the viewer and that the viewer, as a result, may have a role in the unfolding narrative. The work is making its U.S. museum debut at the Corcoran.
* Using water and electricity, Tim Hawkinson created a 10-foot-high giant sea creature made from inexpensive, readily available materials and handcrafted aluminum buckets. The electricity triggers valves that cause drops of water to fall on different surfaces, thereby creating syncopated rhythms. This piece was produced specifically for the Biennial.
* Bruce Nauman began making his seven-image video installation, Mapping the Studio II with color shift, flip, flop & flip/flop (Fat Chance John Cage) All Action Edit, in the summer of 2000. Nauman used infrared light to videotape the inside of his studio at night, capturing, among other things, night sounds and the comings and goings of a cat and mice. This work reveals the poetic fantasy that is literally under Nauman's feet.
Image: Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, The Paradise Institute 2001
CATALOGUE
Published by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Fantasy Underfoot's 120-page companion catalogue features full-color reproductions and essays by Jonathan P. Binstock and Adam Lerner, Master Teacher of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Denver Art Museum. The Museum invited Billy Collins, Poet Laureate of the United States for 2001 - 2003, to contribute an essay and a poem, "Study in Orange and White" (2002). The catalogue also includes essays about each of the 13 participating artists.
PUBLIC PROGRAMS
A series of educational and outreach programs, including artist-led gallery talks and educator workshops, is being planned in conjunction with the exhibition.
EXHIBITION SPONSORSHIP
The 47th Corcoran Biennial: Fantasy Underfoot is sponsored by The Broad Art Foundation, the FRIENDS of the Corcoran, the Anna E. Clark Fund, Ellen and Gerry Sigal, Anne and Ronald Abramson, the Canadian Embassy, Jon and NoraLee Sedmak, the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, the William A. Clark Awards, and the President's Exhibition Fund.
PRESS PREVIEW
A press preview of the exhibition is scheduled for Tuesday, December 17, 2002 from 10 am to noon.
ABOUT THE CORCORAN BIENNIAL
Since its founding more than 90 years ago, the Corcoran Biennial has been a barometer of major trends in American art. The sixth oldest continuous exhibition series in the United States, the Corcoran Biennial has taken many forms, from on-site selections by a jury of artists, to invitationals chosen by a single curator; from extensive presentations by more than 400 artists, to selected bodies of work by as few as five artists. The 45th Biennial, in 1998, signaled the end of an era. After many decades of showcasing American painting, the museum decided to expand the boundaries of the subsequent Biennial to include various media and artists of other nationalities. That more expansive approach continues today.
ABOUT THE CORCORAN GALLERY OF ART
A privately funded institution, the Corcoran Gallery of Art was founded in 1869 as Washington's first museum of art. It is known internationally for its distinguished collection of historical and modern American art, including photography, as well as European painting, sculpture, and decorative arts. Founded in 1890, Corcoran College of Art + Design is Washington's only 4-year college of art and design offering BFA degrees in Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Digital Media Design, Photojournalism and Photography - and AFA degrees in Fine Arts, Interior Design and Photography. The College's Continuing Education Program, which offers part-time credit and non-credit classes for children and adults, draws more than 3,500 participants each year.
The Corcoran Gallery of Art is located at New York Avenue and 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC, and is open every day, except Tuesday, 10 am - 5 pm, and until 9 pm on Thursdays. The Corcoran is closed every Tuesday. Admission to the Corcoran is: $5 for adults; $8 for families; $3 for seniors and member guests; $1 for students with valid ID.
The Corcoran Gallery of Art
New York Avenue and 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC