New sculptures
Regen Projects is pleased to present an exhibition of new work by New York artist Jack Pierson. In this show, Pierson will present word sculptures (which he first began making in 1991), utilizing found objects – mismatched letters salvaged from junkyards, old movie marquees, roadside diners, Las Vegas casinos, and other forsaken enterprises. The word sculptures create individual words or phrases that evoke a multiplicity of meanings.
The assembled letters are alternately gilded, rugged, glitzy, weathered, large, and small. Plastic, wood, metal, and neon letters create words and phrases such as 'PROMISES', 'THE CRIPPLED BEGGAR KNEW A PRICELESS SECRET', 'FAITH', 'LAST CHANCE', 'LOST', 'SHOWBIZ', 'PROVIDENCE', and others. These works are pensive utterances full of emotion, which invite the viewer in for a highly personal interpretation. The works will be mid to large size in scale. Their formal structure is as significant as the words and phrases written. Within the physical arrangement and organization of the letters and words, a formal investigation into placement and composition emerges. We are presented with words we know, but within the context and structure of the word pieces are given new and unexpected meanings.
Jack Pierson's work is a unique and diverse aesthetic expression consisting of photographs, drawings, paintings, installations, and word pieces all of which combine to tell a tale of lost love, sexual longing, faded glamour, fleeting moments, and melancholic and sentimental musings. Pierson's art is built on reference and counter-reference, the familiar and the unknown. His work plays on the notions of meaning and interpretation, on both the evocation and denial of context. There is always the play of allusion and subversion of reference.
"Pierson's aesthetic and psychological exploration of aspects of fame, despair, solitude, itinerancy, and the existential creates an ongoing visual diary of contemporary life. His works evoke various states of mind, responses to and impressions of the physical world, and memories of lost time – both personal and universal…One of the most inventive and evocative artists of his generation, Pierson also exemplifies an important shift in recent art toward the celebration and visualization of various aspects of the personal and human condition at the beginning of the twenty-first century."
(Richard D. Marshall. Jack Pierson Desire Despair, published by Rizzoli, New York, 2006, p. 15)
Jack Pierson's work has been the subject of exhibitions through Europe, Asia, and the United States. Recent solo exhibitions include the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami; Sprengel Museum, Hannover; and the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Provincetown. Monographs of Pierson's work have been published by Rizzoli, New York; Twin Palms Publishers, Santa Fe; and powerHouse Books, New York.
An opening reception for Jack Pierson will take place on Saturday, April 14, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. For further information please contact Jennifer Loh or Yasmine Rahimzadeh at (310) 276-5424.
Upcoming Exhibitions:
Scott McFarland: May 19 – June 23, 2007
In new space: 9016 Santa Monica Boulevard
Charles Ray, Hinoki: May 5 – June 30, 2007
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 14, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Regen Projects
633 North Almont Drive Los Angeles, CA 90069
Gallery Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm