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The Black Mirror
Curated by James Welling and Diane Rosenstein Jan 19 - Mar 9, 2013
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Nancy Rubins
Drawing, 2007
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Diane Rosenstein Fine Art is pleased to present The Black Mirror, a group show curated by James Welling and Diane Rosenstein. This will be primarily an all-black show, engaging the literal and associative properties of reflective black surface materials. The power and provocation of each work is in the proposal it makes for presence in the absence of a diversified palette. The Black Mirror, opening Saturday, January 19th, will inaugurate Rosenstein's new gallery at 831 N. Highland Avenue in Hollywood.
The title of the show is inspired by Henri Matisse's painting Anemones au Miroir Noir (1918-19) and also the history of artistic engagement with Claude glass, convex mirrors used especially in the 18th and 19th century by painters. A layer of black tint was placed over the mirror's surface producing impure images. The convexity of the mirror and its shape were variable, but in general were designed to enhance perception at differing distances.
The relations of this exhibition's individual works to the conceit of The Black Mirror are as complex as are their relations to one another. Each work alters the viewer's perception, as might a Claude glass, using, by turns, literal or figurative transformation of objects, space, and material to suggest differing relations between an artwork and a self.
The show spans in chronology from Louise Nevelson's Untitled "Door" (1976-78) to recent work by Matthew Brandt, Eben Goff, and Farrah Karapetian. Its material scope ranges from the sculptural draping of Nancy Rubins' monumental Drawing (2007) to a black fiberglass "Plank" (1988) by John McCracken to the burned linen and acrylic Dead Day IV (2008) painting by Barnaby Furnas. Each artist addresses formal, social, and conceptual goals from within the means enabled by its medium and maker; the dialogue between them is surprising and unexpected.
Some of the works mirror one another, but their differences are revealing. James Welling's dark Polaroid Lock (1976) echoes John McCracken's polished resin plank. Here the differences between these works enhance specific relationships to objecthood as much as medium.
Tom Burr's assemblage of domestic objects, Rectangled Restraint (2012), exists within the tradition established by Louise Nevelson seventy years prior, but engages with social associations in a different way. Burr's floor work suggests the social space activated by Jose Alvaro Perdices' Cruising Bar, Madrid (1997/2010), which captures a dark interior lit solely by the embers of a moving cigarette.
Dispersal is a formal link between Allan McCollum's Surrogates (1982-88) and Teresita Fernández' onyx and marble Double Cameo (2007); these pieces are comprised of many individual elements which use the wall as the site of their organization, or, in essence, as their frame. John Sisley's photographic grids are likewise an echo of this practice of conceptual accumulation.
Liz Deschenes uses the photograph Black & White #3 (2003) as a sculptural and performative material. Matthew Brandt's images at the grave of Edwin H. Land, inventor of Polaroid film, and Marco Breuer's physical engagement with the cameraless photograph pose alternative arguments for the relationship between the photograph, the sculpture, and the subject.
Representation flickers into the monochromatic field in Hiroshi Sugimoto's South Pacific Ocean, Tearai (1992), Rodney McMillian’s Unknown portraits (2006) and Phil Chang's unfixed portraits, from his Cache, Active series (2011). The material realism of Eben Goff's black wax and polished aluminum sculpture resonates with the oil, asphaltum and alkyds in Charles Fine's painting as well as the rich charcoals of Matthew Brandt's prints of George Bush Park (2009-11).
The exhibition will present photography, painting, sculpture, and works on paper from twenty-one artists, as follows: Matthew Brandt, Marco Breuer, Tom Burr, Phil Chang, Mary Corse, Liz Deschenes, Teresita Fernandez, Charles Fine, Barnaby Furnas, Eben Goff, Whitney Hubbs, Farrah Karapetian, John McCracken, Allan McCollum, Rodney McMillian, Louise Nevelson, Jose Alvaro Perdices, Nancy Rubins, John Sisley, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and James Welling.
The show will inaugurate Diane Rosenstein's new gallery, a 4,300 square foot exhibition space in Hollywood, just two blocks south of Santa Monica Boulevard. Diane Rosenstein Fine Art is moving to this permanent home in Hollywood, after having presented a series of four exhibitions during 2012 in Beverly Hills, at 9399 Wilshire Boulevard, a new Richard Meier building (designed by Michael Palladino, AIA).
About the Curators:
James Welling (USA, b.1951) is an artist who lives and works in Los Angeles. In January of 2013, Aperture will publish James Welling/Monograph to accompany a major survey exhibition at the Cincinnati Art Museum curated by James Crump opening February 1, 2013.
Diane Rosenstein owns and directs the programming at Diane Rosenstein Fine Art, which alternates 20th century Post-War historical exhibitions with presentations of the work of emerging and mid-career artists. She is also the art advisor to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.
The Black Mirror opens Saturday, January 19th, with a reception from 7 - 9 pm.
For More Information, contact: carmel@dianerosenstein.com
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