Rodney Graham
dal 24/7/2004 al 29/11/2004
Segnalato da
24/7/2004
Rodney Graham
MOCA at the Geffen Contemporary, Los Angeles
The first major North American museum exhibition of work by Vancouver-based artist (b. 1949), is an in-depth examination of the evolution of his film, video, and sound works spanning 25 years.
A Little Thought
The first major North American museum exhibition of work by Vancouver-based artist Rodney Graham (b. 1949), is an in-depth examination of the evolution of his film, video, and sound works spanning 25 years. The exhibition opens July 25, 2004, at The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) at The Geffen Contemporary (152 North Central Avenue in downtown Los Angeles) and remains on view through November 29, 2004. This mid-career survey focuses on the video and film work that has dominated Graham's production of the past decade and traces its origins back to his first outdoor projection events of the late 1970s.
Rodney Graham: A Little Thought features over 25 works, including eight major audio-visual installations and new film works, as well as props, notes, scripts and audio works that enhance the understanding of Graham’s highly original approach to his subjects. Along with related models, photographs and an extensive collection of archival material, the exhibition also presents his forays into sound work and music performed by the artist and his band.
While Rodney Graham is commonly described as a conceptual artist, the scope of his artistic and intellectual pursuits defies categorization. Heralded as a master of mixing media, Graham investigates the specific roots of modernism, creatively splicing fact with fiction. His photographs, videos, and soundworks reference a rich range of subjects from music, literature, and pop culture, including James Bond, Cary Grant, Sigmund Freud, Kurt Cobain, John Cage, and elevator music.
After years of using the camera obscura to pursue photographic and sculptural investigations of landscape, Graham returned as the central subject of his work with the video Halcion Sleep (1994) and the trilogy of film works Vexation Island (1997), How I Became a Ramblin’ Man (1999), and City Self/Country Self (2000). These looping film narratives, starring the artist, mimic the genres of the tragedy, the western, and the costume drama to explore themes that are literary, filled with humor, and self-deprecating musings on the identity of the artist. The lead actor in his recent costume dramas, Graham emerges as an absurdist entertainer caught in his own circular narratives.
A new work, Rheinmetal/Victoria 8 (2003), is a 35mm film loop installation featuring a sequence of long, static details of a 1930s vintage German typewriter. The static camera position together with special effects—the use of flour to simulate falling snow that eventually covers the machine—refer to pioneering cinematic techniques. Other recent films, such as The Phonokinetoscope (2002) and the newest A Reverie Interrupted by the Police (2003), incorporate sound and music.
The exhibition includes Edge of a Wood (1999), a 2003 MOCA purchase consisting of a double-projection video installation for which the artist filmed a helicopter panning a forest at night. Lit only by the surveying light of the vehicle, the forest appears both illumined and sinister. The work was previously included in MOCA’s 2001 Flight Patterns exhibition.
Rodney Graham: A Little Thought is jointly coordinated by MOCA Curator Connie Butler, Vancouver Art Gallery Curator Grant Arnold, and Art Gallery of Ontario Adjunct Curator Jessica Bradley.
About the Artist
Born in 1949 in Abbotsford, Canada, Graham studied art and literature at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and studio art at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby. Graham began his practice in Vancouver during the 1970s, when the work of American artists Dan Graham and Robert Smithson figured influentially in an artistic community led by local artists Jeff Wall and Ian Wallace. While often identified with the "Vancouver School," which is characterized by photographic work, ultimately Graham’s art has taken a singular and complex path.
Graham’s works have been widely shown throughout Canada and Europe, including Documenta and the 1997 Venice Biennale, where he represented Canada. In 2002, Graham's work was the subject of a museum retrospective which toured to Britain, Germany, and France. He has also performed his music in Berlin and London, and he participated in the 2003 Lyon and Venice biennials.
Publication
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated 200-page book produced by MOCA and distributed by Distributed Art Publishers, New York. Rodney Graham: A Little Thought includes essays by organizing curators Grant Arnold (Vancouver), Connie Butler (Los Angeles), and Jessica Bradley (Toronto), and guest writers Lynne Cooke (New York), Diedrich Diederichsen (Berlin), Sara Krajewski (Seattle), and Shepherd Steiner (Vancouver). The catalogue is available in the MOCA Store for $39.95.
A new work, Rheinmetal/Victoria 8 (2003), is a 35mm film loop installation featuring a sequence of long, static details of a 1930s vintage German typewriter. The static camera position together with special effects—the use of flour to simulate falling snow that eventually covers the machine—refer to pioneering cinematic techniques. Other recent films, such as The Phonokinetoscope (2002) and the newest A Reverie Interrupted by the Police (2003), incorporate sound and music.
The exhibition includes Edge of a Wood (1999), a 2003 MOCA purchase consisting of a double-projection video installation for which the artist filmed a helicopter panning a forest at night. Lit only by the surveying light of the vehicle, the forest appears both illumined and sinister. The work was previously included in MOCA’s 2001 Flight Patterns exhibition.
Rodney Graham: A Little Thought is jointly coordinated by MOCA Curator Connie Butler, Vancouver Art Gallery Curator Grant Arnold, and Art Gallery of Ontario Adjunct Curator Jessica Bradley.
About the Artist
Born in 1949 in Abbotsford, Canada, Graham studied art and literature at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and studio art at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby. Graham began his practice in Vancouver during the 1970s, when the work of American artists Dan Graham and Robert Smithson figured influentially in an artistic community led by local artists Jeff Wall and Ian Wallace. While often identified with the "Vancouver School," which is characterized by photographic work, ultimately Graham’s art has taken a singular and complex path.
Graham’s works have been widely shown throughout Canada and Europe, including Documenta and the 1997 Venice Biennale, where he represented Canada. In 2002, Graham's work was the subject of a museum retrospective which toured to Britain, Germany, and France. He has also performed his music in Berlin and London, and he participated in the 2003 Lyon and Venice biennials.
Publication
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated 200-page book produced by MOCA and distributed by Distributed Art Publishers, New York. Rodney Graham: A Little Thought includes essays by organizing curators Grant Arnold (Vancouver), Connie Butler (Los Angeles), and Jessica Bradley (Toronto), and guest writers Lynne Cooke (New York), Diedrich Diederichsen (Berlin), Sara Krajewski (Seattle), and Shepherd Steiner (Vancouver). The catalogue is available in the MOCA Store for $39.95.
Public Programs
Performance
Rodney Graham in Concert
Thursday, July 22
Spaceland, 1717 Silver Lake Blvd, Los Angeles
Rodney Graham will perform with his band for one night only. Ticketing information has not been determined and is forthcoming.
Art Talks
Art Talks are informal discussions on current exhibitions led by arts professionals. The talks take place in the exhibition galleries unless otherwise noted. Attendance is free with museum admission and no reservations are required. The Art Talks series is made possible in part by The Times Mirror Foundation Endowment.
Rodney Graham, artist
Sunday, July 25, 3pm, MOCA at The Geffen Contemporary
Grant Arnold, exhibition co-curator, Vancouver Art Gallery curator
Thursday, September 9, 6:30pm, MOCA at The Geffen Contemporary
Jessica Bradley, exhibition co-curator, Art Gallery of Ontario adjunct curator
Thursday, October 28, 6:30pm, MOCA at The Geffen Contemporary
Exhibition Tour
Prior to MOCA’s presentation, the exhibition was on view at the Art Gallery of Ontario (March 31–June 27, 2004). Following Los Angeles, the exhibition will travel to the Vancouver Art Gallery (February 5–April 1, 2005) and the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania (September 10–December 23, 2005).
Funding
Rodney Graham: A Little Thought is organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and the Vancouver Art Gallery. The presentation at MOCA is made possible by generous support from Carol and David Appel, and Audrey M. Irmas. Exhibition support is provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Canada.
MOCA at the Geffen Contemporary
152 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles