I Remember Heaven
dal 25/1/2007 al 7/4/2007
Segnalato da
25/1/2007
I Remember Heaven
Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis
Jim Hodges and Andy Warhol. The exhibition creates a dialogue between the two artists, showing many shared motifs and materials—flowers, camouflage patterns, silvery surfaces, references to death. On a deeper level this cross-generational study looks at the artists’ works within a continuum of art production that finds history in everyday artifacts and uses aesthetic representation as a means to understand visibility/invisibility, sexuality, selfhood, love, and death.
Jim Hodges and Andy Warhol
On the surface it may seem that Warhol and Hodges are polar opposites. Warhol is
popularly portrayed as the ultimate cynic who “played" the art world for fame and
fortune. By contrast, Hodges’s work can seem almost too likeable, openly tender and
emotionally charged. I Remember Heaven: Jim Hodges and Andy Warhol reconsiders
these characterizations of both artists through a series of carefully choreographed
installations that juxtapose their works.
I Remember Heaven aims to evoke the side of Warhol that loved beauty and found it
everywhere, in the bodies of beautiful boys and the silvery surfaces of the
Factory’s space-age de'cor; who made art that embodied empathy and emotion;
and who exposed himself in the self-portraits he made throughout his life. At the
same time, the show seeks to amplify interpretations of Jim Hodges’s work beyond
that of personal expressions of longing and loss, and explore his embrace of cheap
means of adornment as well as the sexy, visceral quality of his work.
This exhibition creates a dialogue between the two artists, showing many shared
motifs and materials—flowers, camouflage patterns, silvery surfaces, references to
death. However, these resemblances are only part of the picture. On a deeper level
this cross-generational study looks at the artists’ works within a continuum of art
production that finds history in everyday artifacts and uses aesthetic
representation as a means to understand visibility/invisibility, sexuality,
selfhood, love, and death. I Remember Heaven aims to create a context in which
Warhol’s work may be read retrospectively through the work of Hodges, and Hodges’s
through the work of Warhol.
I Remember Heaven: Jim Hodges and Andy Warhol is organized by the Contemporary Art
Museum St. Louis and curated by Susan Cahan, guest curator.
Catalog
Accompanying the exhibition will be a fully-illustrated catalog. Essays by Susan
Cahan and Jose' Esteban Munoz will be included. It will be distributed
internationally by D.A.P., New York.
Artist Edition
The Jim Hodges special edition wallpaper featured in the exhibition is available for
purchase from the Contemporary. Based on Hodges’ delicate, lyrical drawing From This
Way Through (1999), the wallpaper fills the wall with a repeating pattern of
hand-drawn plants and flowers sensuously rendered in charcoal and embellished with
metallic gold stars. This wallpaper is available for purchase by contacting Lisa
Grove at 314-535-4660 or at lisa.grove@contemporarystl.org.
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis
A leading center for contemporary art, the Contemporary is a non-collecting
institution located in the heart of St. Louis’s cultural district. Founded in 1980,
the museum presents an ongoing schedule of exhibitions of new and innovative work
and maintains an active program of community partnerships, educational offerings,
and visitor activities.
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis
3750 Washington Blvd. - St. Louis