Vidya Gastaldon
dal 15/1/2007 al 9/3/2007
Segnalato da
15/1/2007
Vidya Gastaldon
Swiss Institute - Old location, New York
Stop Believing, Start Knowing. Video and drawing installations. Working with visionary and revelatory symbolism, Gastaldon creates worlds into which her viewers can enter and be transformed. Using mostly her own handiwork to craft her pieces, she aims to communicate her intentions through her meticulous labor. In her art practice, she often utilizes the iconography new age culture or eastern religious symbols.
Stop Believing, Start Knowing
The SWISS INSTITUTE - CONTEMPORARY ART (SI) is pleased to present the
first U.S. solo exhibition of the work of Vidya Gastaldon.
The Geneva-based, French artist works with visionary and revelatory
symbolism, creating worlds into which her viewers can enter and
potentially be transformed. The SI will become a site of elation and
mystery featuring Gastaldon’s work ranging from her pop-new-age drawings,
woven webs of sculptural scenery and music-video animations.
Using mostly her own handiwork to craft her pieces, Gastaldon aims to
communicate her intentions through her meticulous labor. Sewing, knitting,
diverse installations of video and drawing manifest vast otherworldly
landscapes. Though often using symbols of hippie culture in her aesthetic
language, Gastaldon utilizes the iconography new age culture or eastern
religious symbols in her contemporary art practice without irony.
A belief in the possibility to bring power and transcendent change through
art practice is essential to the work of Gastaldon. Art critic Fabrice
Stroun has emphasized her “as someone working on the extreme fringe of
contemporary art, on the border with visionary art." While her non-ironic
and generous attitude towards the mystical seems, perhaps, rare, in fact
her interests and influences are shared among an undercurrent of young
contemporary artists working with ideas of power, the supernatural and the
undeniable transformative possibility of art.
This exhibition is in cooperation with the Kunstmuseum Thun, Switzerland.
Recent exhibitions by Vidya Gastaldon include solo shows at Kunstmuseum
Thun; Statements, Art 37 Basel, Galerie Art:Concept Paris; Alexandre
Polazzon, London; Galerie Francesca Pia, Berne.
ext-17: Jan + Feb 2007 recordings by London-based artist Sarah Turner.
PARTY: with Acid Mothers Temple + LakaBand, coinciding with the Armory
Show, Saturday February 24, 9pm.
Opening reception: Tuesday January 16, 6 - 8 PM
Swiss Institute - Contemporary Art
495 Broadway FL 3 / New York