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10/5/2007

Ralph Lemon

The Kitchen, New York

(The efflorescence of) Walter

Curated by Claire Tancons and Anthony Allen

The Kitchen is pleased to present the first New York solo exhibition by choreographer, dancer, and visual artist Ralph Lemon. Titled (The efflorescence of) Walter, the show includes a body of work focused on the American South, featuring works-on-paper, a multiple-channel video installation, and other sculptural elements that explore history, memory, and memorialization. There will be an opening reception for the exhibition at The Kitchen (512 West 19th Street) on Friday, May 11 from 6-8pm. Curated by Claire Tancons and Anthony Allen, the exhibition will be on view from May 11 - June 23, 2007. The Kitchen's gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday, 12 to 6pm and Saturday, 11am to 6pm. Admission is Free.

(The efflorescence of) Walter revolves around Lemon's collaborative relationship with Walter Carter, an African American man who has lived for almost a century in Yazoo City, Mississippi. Since 2002, Lemon and Carter have met twice a year and created a "collaborative meta-theater" in which actions scripted by Lemon are translated and transformed through Carter's performance and improvisations. The exhibition weaves together videos of Walter's actions with paintings, drawings and photographs by Lemon. Bringing together figures as varied as writer James Baldwin, artist Joseph Beuys, and Br'er Rabbit, a central character of African American folktales; as well as historical events from the Civil Rights era and cultural artifacts of the American South, this complex engagement with history, myth, and daily human existence explores how past, present, and future co-exist and at times collide.

The works presented in (the efflorescence of) Walter are the ongoing results of Lemon's sustained inquiry into the politics of culture and the power and reliability of cultural memory. This inquiry was the original impulse for the monumental Geography Trilogy (1995-2004), Lemon's quasi-anthropological exploration of movement across three continents, whose last installment, Come Home Charley Patton (2004), specifically addressed the complicated history of the southern United States. Some of the works on view in this exhibition were presented at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, as part of OPEN-ENDED (the art of engagement), in May 2006.

Opening: Friday, May 11, 6:00PM - 8:00PM

The Kitchen
512 West 19th Street - New York
Admission free

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