Anna Gaskell's fourth solo exhibition at Casey Kaplan presents five new large-scale photographs. The images inhabit a theatrical landscape constructed using archetypal elements--a full moon, a painted sky, and a snow-covered forest. Together, these conditions set up a psychological playground in which a group of characters appear to be searching for a story. Gaskell invites the viewer to consider whether this represents a story that has been lost or one yet to be discovered.
Anna Gaskell's fourth solo exhibition at Casey Kaplan presents five new
large-scale photographs. The images inhabit a theatrical landscape
constructed using archetypal elements--a full moon, a painted sky, and a
snow-covered forest. Together, these conditions set up a psychological
playground in which a group of characters appear to be searching for a
story. Gaskell invites the viewer to consider whether this represents a
story that has been lost or one yet to be discovered.
Entertaining the thought that the characters are searching for something
lost, the photographs can be seen as melancholic or nostalgic, even if under
an atmosphere of disquiet or malevolence. Following another interpretive
route, the children in these images may take on a more predatory role. Like
a pack of animals out hunting, the characters take captive any narrative
they might fall upon, no matter who may claim ownership or authorship. The
children, seen in this light, can also bring to mind the way in which other
authors have willfully constructed scenarios in which to set their
creations/characters free.
'When a character is born, he immediately assumes so much independence, even
from his own author, that he can be imagined by everybody in a number of
other situations in which the author never thought of putting him in, and
sometimes he even acquires a meaning the author never dreamed of giving him.'
From: Six Characters in Search of an Author, Luigi Pirandello, 1921.
Since her last exhibition in New York, Anna Gaskell has had solo shows at
The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas; Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris, France;
White Cube, London, England; and Galerie Gisela Capitain, Köln, Germany.
Group exhibitions include Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany; Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, traveling to
Bilboa, Spain; Pori Art Museum, Finland; and the Orlando Museum of Art, Fl.
OPENING: THURSDAY, APRIL 8TH, 6 Â 8 PM
GALLERY HOURS: TUESDAY Â SATURDAY 10 Â 6 PM
FOR FURTHER EXHIBITION INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT THE GALLERY AT:
TEL. 212 645 7335 FAX. 212 645 7835
NEXT EXHIBITION: CARSTEN HÖLLER: MAY 14  JUNE 19, 2004
AMY ADLER, JEFF BURTON, NATHAN CARTER, MILES COOLIDGE, JASON DODGE, TRISHA
DONNELLY, CEAL FLOYER, PAMELA FRASER, ANNA GASKELL, LIAM GILLICK, ANNIKA VON
HAUSSWOLFF, CARSTEN HÖLLER, JONATHAN MONK, DIEGO PERRONE, SIMON STARLING,
ANNIKA STRÖM, JOHANNES WOHNSEIFER
Casey Kaplan
416 West 14th Street
New York, NY 10014
T/ 212 645 7335
F/ 212 645 7835