Two exhibitions
dal 25/3/2004 al 24/4/2004
Segnalato da
25/3/2004
Two exhibitions
Aron Packer Gallery, Chicago
Michael Hernandez de Luna, American Beauty: MHDL's art radiates satire and attacks hypocrisy. MHDL makes perforated pages of fake postage stamps, then removes one of the stamps, attaches it to an envelope, and mails it. Ron Bell, Osteomechanics: Ron Bell finds inspiration in the experimental mysteries of the past. One of the most obscure of these forgotten studies found its way into the artist's psyche: In the late 1700's, an Italian scientist named Luigi Galvani severed a leg from a frog and introduced an electrical spark to its exposed muscle tissue. The leg twitched. This led Galvani to propose the existence of something he called 'animal electricity', a theory that ultimately led nowhere.
Michael Hernandez de Luna -- American Beauty
MHDL's art radiates satire and attacks hypocrisy. MHDL makes perforated
pages of fake postage stamps, then removes one of the stamps, attaches it to
an envelope, and mails it. After the 'letter' is sent through the mail, it
becomes an art piece. The original sheet with the missing stamp and its
respective envelope are then paired in a frame.
No subject is taboo, and targets are metaphorically attacked with particular
scavenged envelopes and specific stamps. The pairings can be inflammatory--
religion / pedophilia, --drugs / rock star obituaries,
--politicians / sexcapades 'the list goes on. A specific example: in a
mildly aggressive piece, he has placed Woody Allen's face next to the words,
'Kosher Pedophile.' The stamp graces a vintage envelope from The Korean Girl
Scouts Foundation. This irony is clear.
MHDL purposefully creates controversy -- timing with certain mailings has
caused legal uproar. This monkeywrenching has gained him local, national,
and international attention. His name is infamous in philatelic circles and
mail carriers and postmasters alike are amused or offended by his ploy.
MHDL's sense of humor and activism make this exhibition a must see for free
speech advocates. His tenacity and defiance make the non-art world take
notice. On the heels of a show MHDL guest curated at the MCA with Lynne
Warren and Tricia Van Eck, Aron Packer Gallery provides another rare
opportunity, as this will be the 10th anniversary year of these artistic
pranks.
Mail related art is a relatively young phenomenon in the art world. You
have only to go to the twenties (Dada and Surrealism) to see artistic
'tampering,' and after, one must shoot to the sixties when the Fluxus
movement influenced many a prankster. Another seminal and more mainstream
event occurred when Gary Trudeau of Doonesbury fame printed a stamp in his
nationally syndicated Sunday comic and told the nation to cut it out and use
it as postage. Michael Hernandez De Luna carries on in this tradition,
albeit a bit more aggressively.
________
Ron Bell -- Osteomechanics
Ron Bell finds inspiration in the experimental mysteries of the past. One
of the most obscure of these forgotten studies found its way into the
artist¹s psyche: In the late 1700's, an Italian scientist named Luigi
Galvani severed a leg from a frog and introduced an electrical spark to its
exposed muscle tissue. The leg twitched. This led Galvani to propose the
existence of something he called 'animal electricity', a theory that
ultimately led nowhere.
Bell¹s inanimate sculptures suggest similar archaic experimental apparatus,
artifacts from an earlier era whose origin and purpose are a mystery. This
exhibition glimpses into the unknown, the undiscovered, and the wrongfully
assessed.
These devices are made of a variety of materials: copper, brass, bronze,
wood, steel, aluminum, iron, glass and natural bone. Some components are
obtained from scientific or industrial surplus companies, while others are
salvaged from discarded electric motors, movie projectors and other found
objects; most are hand fabricated from raw materials.
Bell has been a cinematographer for over 25 years, a craft that combines art
and science in equal measure. Building on this sensibility, he started work
in a new medium and began constructing a series of sculptural pieces that
also dwell at the crossroads of aesthetics and mechanics. 'To me, a
Panavision camera is more beautiful than a Faberge egg,' he once remarked.
This appreciation of the function of form, the drive to discover and the
will to reject conventional ideas is manifest in this show. This is Bell's
first solo show.
Gallery 1
Michael Hernandez de Luna -- American Beauty
Monkeywrenching Postal Art
Gallery 2
Ron Bell -- Osteomechanics
Inanimatronic Devices
When: Artists' Reception: Friday, March 26, 6-9 PM
New Gallery Hours: Tuesday  Saturday 11:00 AM  5:30 PM
Where: Aron Packer Gallery 118 N. Peoria Chicago, IL60607