David Tremlett
dal 10/9/2008 al 24/10/2008
Segnalato da
10/9/2008
David Tremlett
Gering and Lopez Gallery, New York
A solo exhibition of new site-specific works. Working in his primary medium of pastel, Tremlett has created large-scale wall drawings within the gallery space. The temporal nature of these pieces ensures their societal relevance while illustrating a biographic moment in Tremlett's career and personal journey as an artist.
GERING & LóPEZ GALLERY is pleased to present In Space, a solo exhibition of new
site-specific works by British artist David Tremlett. Working in his primary medium
of pastel, Tremlett has created large-scale wall drawings within the gallery space.
He conceived these pieces specifically for the Fifth Avenue space and will construct
the works on site. Accordingly, all of the drawings in the exhibition are
intrinsically tied to the space, as they come to life and dematerialize within it.
Tremlett began making wall drawings in 1969, rising to prominence in the 1970s with
other conceptual British artists such as Richard Long and Gilbert & George, as well
as their American counterparts Sol LeWitt and Joseph Kosuth. Tremlett's works are
born from a generation fascinated with travel and adventure. Tremlett has journeyed
around the world, through Asia, Africa, Central
America, North America, and Europe, encountering the diverse people and creations of
international cultures. The site-specific works currently on display in New York
capture this sense of travel, as viewers physically engage with the drawings only
briefly before continuing along their own paths. Tremlett brings his audience
closer to authentic human experience through the impermanence of the wall drawings
as viewers encounter works indigenous to a specific space. The singular rarity of
this viewing can never be remade in quite the same way, leaving visitors with the
persistent memory of a momentary artistic encounter.
The delicate pastel powders of Tremlett's drawings interact with the architectonics
of the gallery, responding to the preexisting forms of the interior. The temporal
nature of these pieces ensures their societal relevance while illustrating a
biographic moment in Tremlett's career and personal journey as an artist. As
Tremlett travels, his drawings correspond
with his sensory experiences. The palette of his early work consisted of slate grey
with no presence of color. As Tremlett continued his journey, colors became
integral to his pieces. His earth tones from the 1980s reflect the natural pigments
Tremlett witnessed during his travels through Africa and Australia. The brighter
hues of lemon yellow and sky blue present in his later works illustrate the colors
of his repeated Italian visits. Tremlett's current palette functions as a fossil
footprint for the many cultures he has observed.
In the wall drawings on view at Gering & López Gallery, all of Tremlett's past
influences unite to constitute his most recent work. Muted earth tones return as
well as bright hues of red and turquoise, reminiscent of the colors of the
Mediterranean seen in Square #1 and Horizontal and Vertical. Tremlett also
introduces a monochromatic black piece entitled Kolkata, which combines pastel and
powdered graphite to produce the textured effect of
grease with a strikingly organic quality. Tremlett employs Roman characters in the
composition of several pieces such as Place Drawing and Cochin, often jumbling the
letters in such a way that comprehensible words do not readily emerge, adding the
element of language to the pictorial plane. The presence of the artist's hand is
visibly apparent in all works.
Tremlett was born in St. Austell, Cornwall and grew up on his parents' farm. He
attended Falmouth College of Art from 1962 to 1963, before studying sculpture at
Birmingham School of Art from 1963 until 1966 and then at the Royal College of Art
in London. Tremlett's extensive exhibition history includes solo shows at the
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; and the Museum of
Modern Art, New York, among others. His work is also featured in many prominent
collections including the Tate Gallery, London; Cartier Foundation, Paris;
Kunsthalle, Hamburg; and the Panza Collection, Varese. Tremlett has
numerous catalogues and artist books to his credit. He was short listed for the
prestigious Turner Prize in 1992.
Opening Thursday, September 11, from 6-8pm.
Gering and Lopez Gallery
730 Fifth Avenue - New York
Hours Tue-Sat 10-6
Free admission