calendario eventi  :: 

X

2/4/2014

Two exhibitions

Zach Feuer Gallery (new location), New York

Kristen Morgin
The Super Can Man and Other Illustrated Classics

Zach Feuer Gallery is pleased to present in Galley 1 The Super Can Man and Other Illustrated Classics, an exhibition of more than thirty new works by Kristen Morgin.

Morgin reimagines objects to which she is drawn. The exhibition is populated with sculptures of super heroes and heroines found in comic books, fairy tales and popular culture. Some work is re-created as a single object, such as a Little Golden Book edition of Hansel and Gretel. Other work, like The Ugly Duckling, is seemingly reimaged from repurposed materials one may have on hand - the stub of a pencil, a Skippy peanut butter jar top and two painted pieces of wood. All the work, however, is composed primarily of unfired clay and paint.

The work in the exhibition exposes the presence of time. Often the sculptures have been 'vandalized' with stickers or 'doodled' on with markers. The edges of record albums appear torn and bottle caps seem rusted with age. Such weathering and vandalism may be unavoidable when objects exist in the world for an extended time period. By illustrating the history of an object through wear and tear, Morgin looks at how the dignity an article possesses when new might be gradually stripped away over time or even be wholly replaced.

The artist's choice of material is integral to the work. When selecting an object to represent, Morgin often considers how value may be assigned to it. Is it ascribed by the material from which it is created or is it associated with authorship, historical context or sentimental value? Does the fact that it has been preserved lead to increased value or is an item that no longer exists of greater value? Morgin's works are made from soil to which she gives life. The trompe l'oiel in the work is not only a demonstration of her skill but what may give the objects their worth.

Kristen Morgin was born in 1968 in Brunswick, GA. Her work was featured in Overthrown: Clay Without Limits, Denver Art Museum, 12th Istanbul Biennial, Huckleberry Finn at CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art in San Francisco, Unmonumental at the New Museum in New York, Thing at UCLA Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, Red Eye at the Rubell Family Collection in Miami. Morgin lives and works in Gardena, CA.

---

Julian Hoeber and André Kertész

In Gallery 2, Zach Feuer Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of work by Julian Hoeber and André Kertész. Hoeber will exhibit a new group of paintings, drawings, furniture and clothing alongside Kertész' distortion photographs from the 1930s.

Kertész' distortion photographs began in 1917 as optical experiments with photography using water, glass and mirrors to alter the formal qualities of an image. However, he soon became interested in the implications of the distortion-a beautiful woman becomes grotesque; art no longer captures beauty, but disfigures it within a negative aesthetic ideal. He was destroying the constructs of the feminine ideal through manipulated imagery.

Like Kertész, Hoeber uses art history as something to push against and explores new possibilities by destroying the framework he created. Where Kertész used the traditional medium of photography as his template, Hoeber's works pervert systematic strategies of painting and art making. Kertész blurred the subject and its implications; Hoeber adds new color palettes, attacks the surface of his works and often discards the system underpinning the work altogether.

Hoeber's recent series presented dual paintings beside an installation of rooms. The first paintings adheres to strict mathematical configurations and lush color schemes that Hoeber has assigned to the work, the second paintings present misshapen, distorted twins. In conjunction with the painting pairings, the installation imbues the formal qualities of the works into a 3 dimensional environment, activating the uncanny. Through this series of Hoeber's paintings, parallels with Kertész' photographs are clear. Hoeber manipulates the first controlled painting into a warped double with numerous implications in terms of form and concept, just as Kertész has both representationally and theoretically warped the subjects in his photographs.

Julian Hoeber (b. 1974) holds a B.A. in Art History from Tufts University, a B.F.A from the School of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and an M.F.A. from the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena. His work has been included in exhibitions at the Rubell Family Collection, Miami, FL; Western Bridge, Seattle, WA; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, CA; and Deste Foundation Centre for Contemporary Art, Athens. He is represented by Blum & Poe in Los Angeles.

André Kertész (1894-1985) was a Hungarian-born photographer known for his groundbreaking contributions to photographic composition and the photo essay. His career began in 1912 and spanned 73 years. His work has been included in exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts and Serpentine Gallery, London, UK; The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI; The Getty Center, Los Angeles, CA; The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; and the Chicago Institute of Art, Chicago, IL.

Image: André Kertész, Melancholic Tulip, February 1939, 1939. Gelatin silver print, printed c. 1980, 27.9 x 35.6 cm

Opening reception: Thursday, April 3, 6-8PM

ZACH FEUER
548 West 22nd Street - New York, New York 10011
Gallery Hours:
Tuesday - Saturday / 10 - 6

stampa

permanent link