Ian Wallace - Michael Brown
dal 12/2/2010 al 26/3/2010
Segnalato da
12/2/2010
Ian Wallace - Michael Brown
Yvon Lambert, Paris
Wallace's artistic style draws from numerous influences including modernism, classical and minimalist painting, literature and cinematography. The works in this exhibition consist of several pairings of photolaminated paintings that continue the dialogue of opposition characteristic of artist's practice. In this exhibition, Brown addresses the conspicuous consumption that commonly plagues the Western world. Inspired by the rapid depletion of the earth's resources and the commonality of discarding objects after singular or minimal use, Brown presents traditionally mundane objects reworked as conceptual representations of this issue.
Ian Wallace
Yvon Lambert is pleased to present an exhibition of new works by artist Ian Wallace, a leading figure in conceptual photography in Vancouver, Canada. This show will run concurrently with an exhibition of new works by Michael Brown. Both exhibitions open on Saturday, February 13 from 6- 8 pm and will be on view until March 27, 2010.
Wallace’s artistic style draws from numerous influences including modernism, classical and minimalist painting, literature and cinematography. The works in this exhibition consist of several pairings of photolaminated paintings that continue the dialogue of opposition characteristic of Wallace’s practice. Contradictory elements frequently present themselves in the composition of Wallace’s artwork: near and far, identical and different, open and closed, present and absent. These distinctions are not only formal, in the dynamics of figure and ground, but also technical, in his juxtaposition of painting and photography. Wallace seeks to transcend the traditional image and create a dialogue within each work by engaging conceptual elements with photography.
Wallace is decidedly influenced by high modernist art and architecture, which he finds to provide the formal language that most clearly describes the conundrums of our personal and institutional relationships with the world today. The minimalist, linear elements of high modernism are reflected in Wallace’s own work. In the 1960s Wallace created a series of large monochromatic paintings. In the 1970s the artist began staging large- scale photographs that he would later color by hand, merging photography and painting, a technique that is fundamental to his practice. Subsequently, Wallace’s method evolved to become what he is best known for: photographs laminated on canvas with a stripe of painted color.
Ian Wallace was born in Shoreham, England in 1943 and he has lived and worked in Vancouver since 1944. He received his MA in art history from the University of British Columbia in 1968. In 2008 Wallace had concurrent major solo exhibitions at the Witte de With, Rotterdam; Kunsthalle Zurich; and Kunstverein für die Reinlande und Westfalen, Dusseldorf. The three institutions jointly published a monograph on the artist titled Ian Wallace: A Literature of Images. Ian Wallace’s work has been exhibited in exhibitions at venues including: The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Renia Sofia, Madrid; The Vancouver Art Gallery; Kunstverein in Hamburg; and the Art Gallery of Ontario. In June 2009 the Canada Council awarded Wallace the prestigious Molson Prize for the Arts recognizing his influential artistic contributions to Canada.
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Michael Brown
Yvon Lambert Paris is pleased to announce Michael Brown’s first solo
exhibition in Europe. The show will feature new work by the American artist
and will run concurrently with an exhibition of work by Ian Wallace. Both
exhibitions will open on Saturday, February 13, 2010 and will be on view until
March 27, 2010.
Reinvention is vital to Michael Brown’s work. In this exhibition, Brown (b.
1982) addresses the conspicuous consumption that commonly plagues the
Western world. Inspired by the rapid depletion of the earth’s resources and the
commonality of discarding objects after singular or minimal use, Brown
presents traditionally mundane objects reworked as conceptual representations
of this issue. Lawn chairs, aluminum cans, steel and plastic “mirrors”, and
pornographic images inhabit the gallery, with each work possessing a poignant
history and message referring to mankind’s abuse and abundant consummation
of materials. The artist’s subtle transformations of these items have roots in
both minimalism and Duchamp’s readymades.
The explicit sexual imagery is the artist’s favorite book turned into magazine
centerfolds through a complicated and precise process of transformation: the
book is shredded, the pulp strained, pressed, dried, and then printed with the
pornography. Brown creates raw images that reference the intended fleeting
use and subsequent disposal of porn magazines. The book, the base material of
the work, is symbolic of the sharing of ideas and stories throughout history and
also cross-culturally. Its transformation into the pornography highlights the
artist’s perceived lack of acknowledgement between individuals and their own
history, and also comments on the selfish, pleasure-driven actions that pervade
today’s society.
The classic design of the lawn chair is synonymous with American small-town
leisure, and the chair is an inexpensive and ubiquitously accessible item.
Brown uses found objects—the actual metal frames from lawn chairs—and
creates the colored webbing from hand-cut aluminum and enamel. The
installation of lawn chairs surrounded by highly polished tin cans alludes to the
widespread accessibility of leisure and indulgence in modern society.
The featured body of work resembling mirrors are crafted from hand-cut
stainless steel, polished until reflective, and inlaid with plastic. The steel is
artificially broken by Brown to resemble cracks in a mirror. The artist’s use of
steel and plastic, two highly durable and efficient industrial materials that
neither wear nor biodegrade, comments further on the issues of consumption
and depletion of resources.
Michael Brown’s work has been featured in two solo exhibitions at Yvon
Lambert, New York, as well as group exhibitions at venues including: the
Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus, OH; Yvon Lambert, Paris;
Perry Rubenstein Gallery, New York, NY; Zwirner and Wirth, New York, NY;
Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill, NY; Yellow Bird
Gallery, Newburgh, NY; Dorsky Center for Curatorial Studies, New York, NY.
Image: Ian Wallace, PFC Paris Interior I, 2009. Photolaminate with acrylic on canvas 60x60 in (152.4x 152.4 cm)
For any press inquiries please contact Didier Barroso
didier@yvon-lambert.com
Open on Saturday, February 13, 2010, 6-8pm
YVON LAMBERT Paris
108 rue Vieille-du-temple, Paris
Tuesday-Friday : 10am - 1pm / 2:30 pm - 7 pm
Saturday: 10 am - 7 pm