Month: August 2008

Taka Ishii Gallery

Beaver Projects

FAXINATION
AUGUST 28 – OCTOBER 5, 2008
OPENING THURSDAY AUGUST 28, 6 – 9 PM

ALSO THURSDAY: LOYAL MAGAZINE ISSUE 10 RELEASE PARTY 6 – 9 PM

FAXINATION

FIA BACKSTRÖM
AIDAS BAREIKIS
JOE BRADLEY
YOSUKE BANDAI
GREG BOGIN
SARAH BRAMAN
JEFF ELROD
NICOLE EISENMAN
PHIL GRAUER
CLAIRE KELLER
EUNICE KIM
TONY MATELLI
BJARNE MELGAARD
SOSHIRO MATSUBARA
ELENA PANKOVA
ERIK PARKER
LES ROGERS
BILL SAYLOR
ANKE WEYER
TYLER WAXMAN

CURATED BY BILL SAYLOR

Fax-vision is blurry but straight to the point. For the group exhibition FAXINATION, LOYAL has received the drawings, collages and other artworks via one of the by-products of the corporate age, the FAX machine.

Like taking an X-ray of an image and stripping it down to its basic code, the FAX transmits the image in its rawest form, instantly and over any distance, anywhere with a phone line. Ephemeral and imprecise, these faxes retain the essence of an artist’s mark-making. The main value lies not in the fax as ”art object”, but in the effect of examining the results of this method of distinct visual communication.

FAXINATION is a show that constantly expands. The fax machine itself will be part of the exhibition, and the transmissions will be hung directly on the wall creating a WALL OF FAX. There’s a ghost in the wire receiving these international messages with an urgency and immediateness during the opening and throughout the show’s duration.

Galleri Loyal
Loyal Magazine



It is a pleasure to invite you to the opening of

Lucas Ajemian

Litanies
Marches
Stutters
Stammers
Turnstiles
&
Revolving Doors

Saturday September 6th from 3-6 pm

Concurrently, Lucas Ajemian participates in the U-Turn Quadrennial of
Contemporary Art in Copenhagen. He & musician Giancarlo Vulcano will also
perform with several rock bands at the opening party Friday September 5th at
9.30 pm.

Three other artists of the gallery participate in U-Turn:

Lilibeth Cuenca: performances on September 4th at 5.30 pm +
on September 5th at 6.30 pm, both Carlsberg Tap E
Tove Storch: Carlsberg Tap E
A Kassen: public performance, Søndre Boulevard

Kirkhoff




Isca Greenfield-Sanders
Against the Fall

September 6 – October 11, 2008
reception: Saturday, September 6 from 6 – 8 PM

Goff + Rosenthal is pleased to present “Against the Fall”, a new series of paintings, watercolors and line drawings by New York-based artist Isca Greenfield-Sanders.

Greenfield-Sanders’ parachute paintings are based on vintage WWII and Korean War era images. With this work the artist continues her exploration of personal and borrowed memory and, on a formal level, engages in an investigation of color separation. Says Greenfield-Sanders: “I was drawn to the parachute images both for their formal simplicity and for their metaphoric resonance in a time of war. The title of the show “Against the Fall” is a literal translation of the late 18th century French word “Parachute” (para ‘protection against’ + chute ‘the fall’.)”

The paintings draw on sources as diverse as Edouard Manet, Winslow Homer, Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Claude Monet, Andy Warhol and Antoine de Saint Exupéry’s children’s book Le Petit Prince, which has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. Le Petit Prince leaves an indelible impression on readers due in large part to its singular illustrations. According to Greenfield-Sanders “Le Petit Prince recalls the same mix of dreamlike memories that I hope my paintings evoke. The parachute paintings, and in particular the line drawings, were made with this book in mind.”

Yet a darker subtext haunts these paintings. In the three large 63 x 63-inch “Parachute Class” series of paintings a group of servicemen grapple with a large white parachute. The figures recall Manet’s “Execution of Maximilian and Goya’s “The Third of May”. Of course in the Parachute Class paintings the figures are not a firing squad but are instead engaging with an object that has connotations of safety, freedom and escape. Nevertheless, the art historical references and the fact that the source imagery for these works is a cache of World War II photographs signals to the viewer that larger questions are afoot. Other works in the show like “Black and White Parachute (Black)” also suggest a more complex political reading of these paintings. And while the 35 x 35-inch gold leaf paintings depicting a single parachute clearly reference Warhol’s “Gold Marilyn Monroe” from 1962, the gold parachute paintings also speak to a desire for escape from our increasingly complex and strained financial world.

On a formal level printing is integral to Greenfield-Sanders’ work, which combines the digital with the handmade. Greenfield-Sanders explains that the palette of this series reflects the CMYK color separation breakdown. The parachute paintings were originally painted as the source images appeared: blue sky with red and white striped parachutes. As she had done with earlier work, Greenfield-Sanders removed the blue and painted the image pink which gave the work an otherworldly quality. For the third group she decided to paint them black–“like night escapes or something more ominous”, she says. With the addition of the gold group she had the entire CMYK spectrum: blue (C, cyan), pink (M, magenta), black (K, key) and gold (Y, yellow.)”

Isca Greenfield-Sanders lives and works in the East Village and on a lake in the Hudson Highlands. Her work is included in many private and public collections including The Guggenheim Museum in New York. In early 2006 her work was the subject of a two-person exhibition at the Museum Mosbroich in Leverkusen, Germany. Her work has been the subject of articles in many magazines and publications including Art News, Tema Celeste, Elle, Departures, Vanity Fair, Elle Décor, and Art Forum.

Goff & Rosenthal

Jeff Ladouceur has recently produced a edition of twenty prints each of the above images. Each image is printed on a unique piece of antique paper.
Works are available for $250 each. Please contact ZieherSmith at 212-229-1088 or email info@ziehersmith.com for more information.

Only two weeks remain to view Ladouceur’s amazing piece, Floater, embracing the facade of the Vancouver Art Gallery. This project is curated by Jordan Strom who states
“Whether in drawing or three dimensions, Ladouceur’s images are always in metamorphosis, evapo-transpiring into clouds of steam and semi-solid anthropomorphic forms lifting off the ground.” (Jeff Ladouceur: Floater, Vancouver Art Gallery brochure, June 6 – September 7, 2008).

Zieher Smith

Arndt Partner

Faurschou

Over 100 pieces will go on display at White Walls in a timely new show called “Duality in Humanity.” The show marks a bit of a departure for the artist, whose unique form of reverse propaganda emerged from the spirit of the punk movement. With this show, Shepard takes a step back from the ‘calls to action’ against mindless consumerism and war evidenced in previous shows like 1984ia, E Pluribus Venom and Imperfect Union. “The difference between this show and the previous ones is that now Obama is in the mix,” Shepard said. His recent work reflects his own personal shift towards a new optimism, a direct result of his involvement with, and inspiration by, the powerful political ideals of Barack Obama.

The title of the show, “Duality of Humanity,” is inspired by the peace-sign wearing US soldier in Vietnam, ‘Joker,’ in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. A central piece is a child with a gun in his hand and a flower in his hat. That theme of soldiers and weapons bearing peace signs, or peace signs comprised of military effects, runs through many pieces in the show. Environmental themes also appear in some pieces, illustrating the tenuous balance between our dangerously uncontrolled consumption of non-renewable resources, and our well-intentioned eco-concerns. Suffering and hope are seamlessly merged in a visual mash-up that defies expectations and easy answers.

“Duality of Humanity” includes larger mixed media pieces on paper that has been covered with carefully collaged Ephemera, self-printed patterns and found clippings from printed media. The backgrounds provide a seductive painterly texture and visual subtext, often allowing apropos words and images to bleed through the iconic images printed over them. The multiple layers create a sense of depth, but also bring in temporal elements through preserved newsclippings, historic images and vintage printing effects. It is the images in the foreground, however, that give the work its power. They are crisp and provocative, communicating in a way that is direct and clear.

Obey Giant

Christina Wilson