Delia Gonzales & Gavin Russom
dal 20/10/2006 al 24/11/2006
Segnalato da
20/10/2006
Delia Gonzales & Gavin Russom
Jousse Entreprise, Paris
For I was like one dead, like a small gost, a little cold air wandering and lost
For I was like one dead, like a small gost, a little cold air wandering and lost
Organized by Heidi Fichtner
Jousse Entreprise is very pleased to present the first solo exhibition of Delia Gonzalez & Gavin
Russom in France. Currently based in Berlin, the American duo work collaboratively in a variety of
media and have had numerous solo international exhibitions and performances.
Gonzalez & Russom’s new suite of minimal black sculptures extends their ongoing exploration
into the possibility of using metaphors derived from contemporary art sources ranging from film,
architecture, literature or the cultures of glam and disco, combined with theatrical staging and
performance, to create an environment for authentic spiritual experience and transformation.
Addressing the gap between mystical phenomenon of the natural world as summoned through
the occult, Afro-Cuban culture, spiritual rites of initiation and others, and the contemporary urban
landscape of culture, their sculptures and installations are frequently composed of reduced
modular formica elements embedded with electronic music synthesizers and more recently with
lights. These highly produced minimal entities thus propose a synthetic re-creation of natural
forces - the potential for transcendence - which are conceptually and actually evoked through
staging, sound and light although not physically present.
“For I was like one dead, like a small ghost, a little cold air wandering and lost" treats the myth
of Orpheus and his descent into the realm of the dead, proposing a possible scenography for
Luigi Rossi’s 1647 baroque opera production of the myth. Tying this theme of the initiate’s journey
together with the significance of the exhibition’s date on the celestial calendar (between
the autumnal equinox and Samhain, the Celtic new year which is celebrated on the 31st of
October and which is considered the period when the veil between the living and the dead
is at its thinnest) the installation proposes the possibility of gaining individual power and insight
from moments of darkness and emptiness.
Within the context of an exhibition, sculptures endowed with metaphorical reference
to mythical or occult sources often double as interior objects such as vanity mirrors
or chaise lounges, confounding notions of the ritualized and the domestic. In the current
exhibition, for which the gallery is painted black, a vaulted formica archway
which is Orpheus’ gateway to the underworld also doubles as a throne. Recessed
niches in the formica surface encase florescent lighting, light - as in a lightning field
or the sun - being a primordial force and reminding us of the dual nature of these formal
constructions which function both as sculptural elements of a stage set as well
as synthetic re-creations of actual natural forces. Hypnotic loops of sound emitted
from sleek metal synthesizers set into the surface of modular black formica fountains
underscore the artists’ search for contemporary material and ambient forms to create
an environment in which human transcendence is possible.
Aside from producing sculpture, installation, music and performance, Gonzalez &
Russom also create meticulously formed talisman figures - red sequined grapes, an
ancient symbol of fertility, or replicas of Afro-Cuban deities, cone heads with cowry
shells for eyes and mouths - as further re-enactments of the sources of magic on
earth. They also, independently, produce drawings and collages, and together founded
the performance groups Fancypantz and Black Leotard Front with artist Christian
Holstad in New York. They have several CD’s out on the DFA label in New York.
Gonzalez & Russom have been working collaboratively since 1998. Recent exhibitions
include "Ceremonies of Consummation" at Peres Projects, Los Angeles, "While
Interwoven Echoes Drip into a Hybrid Body..." at the Migros Museum, Zurich, "I Feel Love,"
Galleria Fonti, Naples, Italy and "No Ordinary Sanctity," curated by Shamim Momin in
conjunction with Galerie Thaddeus Ropac, Kunstraum Deutsche Bank in Salzburg. In
November 2006, they participate in “Music is a Better Noise" at P.S. 1,
NYC, curated by Bob Nickas. Their work has been featured the New York Times and
Artforum magazine, among others.
Jousse Entreprise
24 rue Louise Weiss - 75013 Paris