NO ROOM curated by Los Angeles architects, Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee    Jul 11 - Aug 30, 2008

Architecture, both vernacular and iconic appears as a consistent subject, source matter and reference for the artists collected in No Room. Johnston and Lee will turn the gallery space into an interactive environment, juxtaposing artwork with furniture, such as Veronika Kellndorfer’s “Barcelona Pavilion” and Mies van der Rohe’s “Barcelona Chair.” This interface creates a scene of perpetual oscillation between the transactions of the postmodern critique and the nearly insatiable contemporary desire for the holistic image. As stated by the curators, “beyond the brick and mortar, modern architecture in contemporary art is an oft used shorthand for the social movements of its time: the original out of which the architecture evolved, the failure of that optimism, the domination and veneer that post-modernism associated with it, and most recently its renovation into lifestyle fodder.” At once, the gallery holds the transactions of the architecture, the imprint and translation of the artist and the gallery space as a constructed interior.

Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee founded the award-winning architectural practice of Johnston Marklee & Associates with a distinctly critical and inventive approach towards all projects. Featured extensively in national and international media, the repertoire of Johnston Marklee include the exhibition designs of nano at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Kaikai Kiki Merchandise Room of ©Murakami at the Museum of Contemporary Art; the structurally innovative Hill House in Pacific Palisades, CA; the color-specific Sale House in Venice, CA; the conjoined boutiques of Mameg and Maison Martin Margiela in Beverly Hills, CA; and the Writers-in-Residence Studies for the Lannan Foundation in Marfa, TX. Current projects include the Grand Traiano Art Complex in Grottaferrata, Italy for the D.E.P.ART Foundation; the View House in Rosario, Argentina, the Verdant Hills Hotel Villas in Jixian, China; and the Energy Store in Los Angeles, CA.

For biographical information and a selection of additional images please visit our website at www.cgrimes.com or contact CHRISTOPHER GRIMES GALLERY 310-587-3373.