Archive for February, 2010

AO Onsite – The Whitney Biennial: 2010 opens at the Whitney Museum of American Art on the Upper East Side in New York

Sunday, February 28th, 2010


Strange Attractors
, Aki Sasmoto – all photographs by Oskar Proctor for Art Observed.

This week the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York opened its doors for the 75th edition if its defining exhibition: The Biennial. Simply titled, 2010, the show rejects an organizational theme and instead uses time as its marker in a matter-of-fact cross-section of American art today. The show is one of the smallest in the Biennial’s history – works by only 55 artists and collaborative teams are displayed on four floors of the museum’s ‘Breur Building’ in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. This year the entire third floor of the building has been taken dedicated video installation – first exhibited at the Biennial in 1975 – a sure sign that video work has now reached maturity, worthy of recognition as an independent art form. In addition, the museum’s fifth floor is devoted to artists in the Whitney’s permanent collection who have shown in past Biennials.


Francesco Bonami, Curator of Whitney Biennial 2010

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Whitney Biennial 2010 – Interview with curator Francesco Bonami via VernissageTV

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AO On Site – New York: Thomas Ruff ‘Zycles and Cassini’ at David Zwirner through March 13, 2010

Friday, February 26th, 2010


“zycles 3075″ (2009), part of the new show of Thomas Ruff’s works at David Zwirner Gallery.

The David Zwirner Gallery is currently showing Thomas Ruff’s sixth solo exhibition at the gallery. On view are two new series by the artist, whose photography has explored landscape, the nude, portraiture and even architecture through appropriated, computer-generated, and traditional images. “zycles” and “cassini,” at David Zwirner through March 13, draw in patrons as they notice the details that yield a snowballing structural complexity.


Thomas Ruff, “cassini 26″ (2009), at David Zwirner.

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Go See – London: ‘The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters’ at the Royal Academy through April 18th 2010

Thursday, February 25th, 2010


Self-Portait as an Artist
(1888), by Vincent Van Gogh, via The Royal Academy of Arts

Currently on view at the Royal Academy of Art is a major exhibition of the work of Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1893) and his incredible written correspondence. The show exhibits 35 original letters which have rarely been exhibited to the public due alongside 65 paintings and 30 drawings. The grouping of such works in different artistic disciplines reveals how closely the artist’s writing was interlocked with his painting.


Still-Life with a Plate of Onions (1889
) by Vincent Van Gogh, via The Royal Academy of Art

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Don’t Miss- New York: Elisa Sighicelli, ‘The Party is Over,’ at Gagosian Gallery on Madison Avenue through February, 27th 2010

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010


Sighicelli, Untitled (White) 2006

Currently showing at Gagosian Gallery on Madison Avenue  is an exhibition of work by Elisa Sighicelli entitled ‘The Party is Over.’  The show encompasses nine photographic works and two video installations that explore themes of stillness and motion – specifically, of places ‘suspended in time.’ Sighicelli’s images capture a variety of structures, from billboards and a planetarium to tangles of bamboo scaffolding against a building. Different qualities of light are used in each piece to convey the information of an infrastructure in all it’s mood and glare – materials of metal and concrete begin to take on emotional qualities. “I always think of my photos as shot by an alien somehow– you have a feeling of displacement, but at the same time you think you recognize something…”


Sighicelli, Untitled (Empty Square) 2009 Via Gagosian

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Go See – Madrid: Olafur Eliasson “Kepler Was Wrong” at Galeria Elvira Gonzalez, Madrid through March 6, 2010

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010


Before the star lamp, Olafur Eliasson 2010. All Images Via Galeria Elvira Gonzalez Homepage

“Kepler was Wrong”, the exhibition of the new works by the renowned Danish artist Olafur Eliasson is on view at Galeria Elvira Gonzalez, Madrid from January 19 through March 6, 2010. “Kepler was Wrong” features works created especially for this particular exhibition, the first solo show for Eliasson in this gallery.  The artist takes on a humorous argument with Johannes Kepler, a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer, and key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion, whose theories provided the foundation for Isaac Newton’s theory of gravitation.  Eight works on display at Galeria Elvira Gonzales treat different aspects and elements related to the universe, outer space and extraterrestrial traveling, such as the dark side of the moon, gravitation, meteorites etc.  For this particular exhibition, Eliasson creates his own variant the universe that includes seven installations and a large panel of black – and –white photography Jokla Series(2004).
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Go See – New York: Kiki Smith ‘Sojourn’ at the Brooklyn Museum through September 12, 2010

Monday, February 22nd, 2010


Kiki Smith, Walking Puppet, 2008. Papier-mâché with muslin overall © Kiki Smith, Courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York. Image Courtesy the Brooklyn Museum

On February 11th ArtObserved was on-site at the media preview of Kiki Smith’s latest lofty installation based on her thoughts on the passage of one’s life and artistic development. ‘Kiki Smith: Sojourn’ is on view at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, The Brooklyn Museum, through September 12, 2010, marking the fourth site-specific installation as part of a grand, long-term project. Other venues included Museum Haus Esters, Krefeld, Germany (March 16–August 24, 2008) and traveled to Kunsthalle Nürnberg (September 18–November 16, 2008) and Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona (February 19–May 24, 2009).


ArtObserved in conversation with Kiki Smith at the opening of “Kiki Smith: Sojourn”, The Brooklyn Museum

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Don’t Miss – Düsseldorf: ‘Eating the Universe. Food in Art’ at Kunsthalle Düsseldorf through February 28, 2010

Thursday, February 18th, 2010


Bread or Alive
(2004) by Johannes Deinmling, via Kunstalle Dusseldorf

Currently showing at the Kunstalle Dusseldorf is “Eating the Universe. Food in Art.” The exhibit reflects on the term “Eat Art” coined by Swiss Artist Daniel Spoerri after he opened his restaurant in Burgplatz in Dusseldorf proceeded to found the Eat Art Gallery in 1970. The gallery inspired artists to produce works out of edible materials and food wastes. The exhibition’s title “Eating the Universe” was first used by Peter Kulbelka, former professor for film and cooking at the Studeschule in Frankfurt, for his 1970’s TV show on cooking as an art form. “Eating the Universe. Food in Art” reveals the continual link between food and art and their joint impact on life.

A Visitor looks at Thomas Rentmeister’s Untitled (2007) made of sugar and a shopping cart, via Artdaily

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AO On Site – New York: Steve McQueen at Marian Goodman through March 6, 2010

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010


A still from Steve McQueen’s “Giardini” (2009), on view at Marian Goodman Gallery through March 6.

Through March 6, New York’s Marian Goodman Gallery is showing two films by Steve McQueen.  This is the American debut of “Giardini,” the 30-minute, two-projection film which premiered at the 2009 Venice Biennale and is set on its grounds. “Static” (2009) is showing for the first time, made specifically for the exhibition and centered around the Statue of Liberty. Perspective and national monument are satirized and subverted, recreated in this new exhibition.


A still from Steve McQueen’s “Static” (2009), on view at Marian Goodman Gallery, along with “Giardini,” through March 6.

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AO On Site – Gert and Uwe Tobias “Come and See Before the Tourists Will Do – The Mystery of Transylvania” at Team Gallery through 13 March 2010

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010


Untitled (GUT/1361), 2008

Last Thursday, ArtObserved were on site at Team Gallery for the opening of an exhibition of new work by twin brothers and artistic collaborators, Gert and Uwe Tobias. The title of the exhibition, “Come and See Before the Tourists Will Do – The Mystery of Transylvania,” was originally used by the brothers in 2004 to describe a body of works that acted as mock-advertising for low-budget horror movies set in their native Transylvania. Initially it was a reaction the Romanian governments proposal to build a “Dracula Park” in order to encourage tourism in the area. In this rendition of the series they chose a number of European vampire film titles from which to construct their lively woodcut “posters” around. The works are very much informed by folklore and regional mythologies and thus are concerned with the construction of cultural identity.


Artist Uwe Tobias (right) at the opening of Come and See Before the Tourists Do – The Mystery of Transylvania at Team Gallery on February 11, 2010. Photographs by Oskar Proctor.

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Don’t Miss – Middlesbrough, UK: Ellsworth Kelly at Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art through February 21, 2010

Monday, February 15th, 2010


Untitled, Ellsworth Kelly (1959) via Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art

Currently showing at the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, England are a selection of early, unseen drawings by one of the most influential American artists of the 20th century – Ellsworth Kelly. Executed by Kelly between 1954 and 1962, the drawings have traveled to Middlesbrough directly from the artist’s New York studio where they have been hidden for more than 50 years. The 23 works are all studies for larger pieces and have been presented now, for the first time ever, to illustrate an important period in the artist’s career during which he pioneered his much-admired abstract style that has been integral to the evolution post-war American art.

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Go See – Berlin: George Condo at Sprüth Magers through March 2010

Saturday, February 13th, 2010


The Bus Driver, 2009 ,oil on linen ,71,1 x 60,9 cm via Sprüth Magers Gallery

Sprüth Magers Gallery in Berlin is hosting “Family Portraits” – an exhibition of new works by American contemporary artist George Condo.  Condo’s most recent exhibition at Sprüth Magers took place in 2008, at the inauguration of Sprüth Magers’ new Berlin premises. In 2010, Condo brings to Sprüth Magers a series of figurative oil paintings. His collaboration with this renowned German gallery began as early as 1984 in Cologne, where Condo was briefly a member of the group “The Young Wild” (Die Jungen Wilden), whose colorful palette and highly expressive pictorial style starkly differed from then-popular Conceptual art and Minimalism. Drawing the inspiration from classic art ranging from Diego Velasquez to Pablo Picasso, the members of the group incorporated the elements of graffiti and comic books into their work. Condo’s genre of choice is grotesque portraiture, where Cubist-like distorted facial features successfully co-exist with imposing compositions reminiscent of the 17th Century Old masters.


Family Portraits, George Condo via Sprüth Magers Gallery

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AO Auction Results – London: Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Sale Thursday February 11, 2009 – Another highly successful sale confirms Art Market Recovery

Friday, February 12th, 2010


Relief éponge or (RE 47 II),  Yves Klein Estimate: £5 – £7 million. Price Realized: £5,865,250. Image via Christie’s

Last night, Christie’s evening sale of post-war and Contemporary art in London totaled £39,149,500, exceeding the pre-sale estimate of £26,290,000 to £38,260,000. More than half of the lots offered sold above estimate, and in selling 9 works over  £1 million (16 over $1 million), the auction house easily surpassed the equivalent figure for all three of their auctions of Post-War and Contemporary art in London last year.  The evenings auction confirmed that not only has confidence returned to the art market but also that there is a real hunger from international collectors in this market – Europeans dominated the bidding, eventually accounting for 41% of the sales, 22% of works sold to Americans, 31 percent went to Britain. Four percent went to Asia. Particularly strong prices were realized for classic European artists including Yves Klein as well as Joana Vasconcelos and Alighiero Boetti, both of whose work established world record prices.The strong results at our international auctions during the second half of last year encouraged vendors who were previously resistant to consign works of art, and the increased supply of quality works fed a strong demand and led to competitive bidding.

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AO Auction Results: London – Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Sale the second most successful contemporary auction ever held at Sotheby’s, London

Thursday, February 11th, 2010


Untitled XIV, Willem de Kooning. Estimate: £2-3 million Price Realized: £4 million

Sotheby’s auction house worked its magic again last night at their London contemporary art evening sale that totaled £54.1 million – three times the total of the equivalent sale last year and comfortably higher than its pre-sale estimate of £32.2 – 45.1 million. Of the 77 lots on offer, fifteen sold for over a million pounds and only three failed to sell. Measured in financial numbers, this is the second most successful contemporary auction ever held at Sotheby’s. 21 new artist records were set, a large number but slightly dicieving given that nineteen of these were realized by Zero Group-era artists, many of whom have never appeared in the big evening auctions. Discussing the results, Cheyenne Westphal, Sotheby’s Chairman of Contemporary Art Europe, said: “The outstanding sell-through rates, depth of bidding across the sale – particularly for Lenz – and strong prices we achieved this evening are a clear sign of renewed confidence in this market and build on the positive and strong results of our New York sale in November.

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Go See – Los Angeles: Aaron Young at Gagosian Beverly Hills through February 27, 2010

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010


Aaron Young, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, 2009. [Gagosian Gallery]

Aaron Young, the so-called “Hellraiser” (Christopher Mooney, ArtReview), shakes-up the Beverley Hills neighborhood with his uniquely American brand of biker-nihilism. With a proliferation of riotous and destructive objects, including life-size wrecking balls and battered iron barricades, casually littering the gallery floor one would initially interpret this exhibit as a punks advert for hard living. Yet the sadist exterior gives way to a masochistic interior: the wrecking ball is made of glass, bound for self-destruction if it ever fulfilled its function; similarly the razor-wire sculptures have a soft core, made from delicate Murano glass, and turned on its side to become sculptural; the barricades are made of plated gold not iron, they are precious rather ruined


Goner, 2009. [Gagosian Gallery]

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AO On Site – London: Chris Ofili at Tate Britain through 16 May 2010

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010


The Raising of Lazarus, 2007 (David Zwirner Gallery)

Chris Ofili’s familiar hits are brought together with his more mature recent works for the first time in a mid-career survey at the Tate Britain, London, through 16 May 2010. The collective effect of the show is a kaleidoscope of wild humor, brilliant color and raw energy. What is striking about the exhibition is its unique position within the growing contemporary canon: firstly, Ofili is unusual as a painter in a conceptual era, and, secondly, he is intensely concerned with the aesthetic. The paintings in this exhibition are richly ornamented; their surfaces are imaginatively constructed from such incongruous materials as elephant dung (Ofili’s signature), map pins and glitter. The paintings are structural and highly tactile, and the viewing experience is a sensory event. This perhaps most evident in The Upper Room, a collaboration with the architect David Adjaye to design an independent and enclosed viewing space. The audience is guided down a barely lit corridor into a dim, yet glittering chamber that enhances the spiritually of viewing paintings which reference both the Christian and Hindu faiths.

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AO Auction Preview – London: The January Post-War and Contemporary Auctions Begin at Sotheby’s

Monday, February 8th, 2010


Self-Portrait with a Black Eye, Lucian Freud. Estimate: Image via Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s auction house will kick off this week’s major round of contemporary sales in New York with an 80 lot sale that is expected to realize in excess of £32 million on Wednesday, February 10. Christie’s expect to fetch at least £26,290,000 from 52 lots at their evening sale on Thursday, February 11. In November, Sotheby’s Postwar and Contemporary Sale in New York marked a major turning point in art market history when Andy Warhol’s 200 One Dollar Bills, sold for $43,762,500 over an estimate of $8-12million. The coming week could therefore be seen as an important one in establishing price-levels in a still relatively undetermined contemporary art market – the area most heavily effected by the global recession.  The many heavyweight pieces on offer this week undoubtedly reflect a confidence in sellers resulting from November’s impressive sale – the sales are spearheaded by important and rare works by Peter Doig, Yves Klein, Lucian Freud, Gerhard Richter, Chris Ofili, Neo Rauch and Martin Kippenberger. Contemporary week also falls in the wake of the incredible $104.3 million sale of Giacometti’s “L’homme qui marche I” (The Striding Man I) at Sotheby’s that set a new world record by becoming the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction. This week overall, Sotheby’s and Christie’s expect to bring in at least $365.3 million combined, $144.6 million in 2009, up from $332.5 million in February 2008.

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AO On Site: Kinetica Art Fair Debuts in London at the Ambika P3 Space, through February 7th, 2010

Friday, February 5th, 2010


Light installations by artist Rosaline de Thelin.

Currently on exhibit in London is the Kinetica Art Fair, the UK’s only fair dedicated to kinetic art, which mixes science and engineering  together in a modern mirage of moving and glowing artworks, some of which react to human movement and sound. The kinetic art exhibition, which includes wonders such as robots and holographic light beings, is designed to question the perceived boundaries between different disciplines through the use of light, robotics, sound and electronics. More than 150 artists are exhibiting at the event, which is organized by the Kinetica Museum. Over 30 galleries and other organizations are participating in the fair. Artists involved in the show include Paul Friedlander, Ivan Black, Paul Friedlander, Paul Beckett, Bálint Bolygó, Nik Ramage, Roseline de Thelin, Ben Parry, Rachel Garrard and many others.

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Art Observed video coverage featuring artists, in order, Rachel Garrard, Vincent Leclerc, Interactive Agents, Rosaline de Thelin, Andras Mengyan, Vyacheslav Koleychuk, Lilyan Lin, Peter Logan, Paul Friedlander, Tom Wilkinson, Balint Bolygo and Squid Soup.

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London: Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Evening Sale, February 3, 2010 – historic London sale substantiates art market recovery through robust hammer prices exceeding £10 million for works by Giacometti, Cezanne and Klimt

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010


Auctioneer Henry Wyndam sells L’Homme qui marche I by Alberto Giacometti. Estimate: £8-12 million Price Realized: $104,327,006. Image via Associated Press

A bronze sculpture, entitled L’Homme qui marche I, by Alberto Giacometti became the most expensive work ever sold at auction this evening when it realized $104,327,006 at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale in London. In an interesting turn of events, Giacometti’s sculpture represents the recession from beginning to end – it was being auctioned as an asset of the failed bank Dresdner Bank and the remarkable price undoubtedly signals a resurgence in the art market. In total, the 39-lot sale realised $233,622,228.37 – the highest total ever reached for a sale in London. While 8 lots went unsold, an impressive 17 pieces sailed past the £1 million mark including three works that individually realized more than £10 million – in reflection of these enormous sales Melanie Clore, Co-Chairman, Impressionist & Modern Art, Sotheby’s Worldwide, stated: “We are thrilled to have sold these great works this evening and that they have been recognized for the masterpieces that they are.  The competition which generated these exceptional results demonstrates the continued quest for quality that compels today’s collectors.”

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AO Breaking Auction Results: Sotheby’s sets record for any work of art ever sold at auction with $104 million Alberto Giacometti Sculpture – almost 10 times estimate

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010


L’Homme qui marche I, Alberto Giacometti. Estimate: £8-12 million Price Realized: $104,327,006 via Sotheby’s

Tonight, Alberto Giacometti’s L’homme qui marche I fetched $104,327,006 at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Evening Sale in London – making it the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction. The bronze sculpture exceeded the previous record of $104.1 million that was set at Sotheby’s in May 2004 by Pablo Picasso’s Garçon à la Pipe.  10 bidders, mostly on telephone, fought a fast and furious battle over a period of eight minutes – the eventual winner was an anonymous client on the telephone with Philip Hook, Senior European Director of Impressionist & Modern Art at the auction house. Sotheby’s had expected the sculpture to bring-in between $19.2 million and $28.8 million. The work was being sold by Dresdner Bank in Germany, which acquired it in 1980.

The sale is still in progress – more details will follow shortly.

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AO Auction Results – London: Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Evening Sale, February 2, 2010

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010


Tête de femme (Jacqueline), Pablo Picasso. Estimate $4,845,000 – $6,460,000 Price Realized:$12,887,348. Image via Christie’s

Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale and the auction of Art of the Surreal took place last night in London and fetched $122,167,093, over a pre-sale estimate of $87 – $124million.  The sale illustrated a buoyant market in reflection of last year’s equivalent sale that raised $101 million as buyers and sellers held back in the financial crisis. Another observation is the continuing appetite for important works of art – most specifically large, colorful works fresh to the market from long-established private collections. Competitive bidding for 4 works by important artists Picasso, Kees van Dongen and Natalia Gontcharova pushed prices over £5 million – in total 21 lots realize over £1 million, compared to 26 at both last year’s major London sales combined. Despite recent musings on buyers in China’s ascendant economy who are displaying a new appetite for 20th Century Art, Thomas Seydoux, Christie’s international head of Impressionist and modern art, was most surprised by the amount of bidding from Russian and former Eastern Bloc buyers who dominated the action on the telephone – only 2% of lots were sold to Asian buyers in relation to 25% UK, 48% Europe and 25% Americas.

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AO Auction Preview – London: The January Modern and Impressionist Auctions Begin Tomorrow at Christie’s

Monday, February 1st, 2010


Kirche in Cassone (Church in Cassone), Gustav Klimt via Sotheby’s

Masterpieces by Pablo Picasso, Gustav Klimt and Henri Matisse that have been unseen for decades will go under the hammer this week at Christie’s and Sotheby’s in London at the first major European auctions of 2010. The appearance of many top-quality, ‘lost’ works marks a distinct change in the attitude of sellers who have been encouraged to put their prized works on the market by the recent success of Impressionist and Modern Art sales – most notable is Sotheby’s November Impressionist and Modern sale in New York that exceeded all expectations when it realized $182m over a high-end estimate of $163m. The sales kick-off with Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale on February 2 that will offer 86 lots with a total pre-sale value of £56,505,000 to £80,805,000. The sale is led by works by Kees van Dongen, Natalia Goncharova, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. Sotheby’s evening sale of Impressionist and Modern Art on Wednesday, February 3 is smaller with only 39 lots but the target of £102million is considerably higher. This high estimate is excelled by three works from Gustave Klimt, Alberto Giacometti and Paul Cézanne that are individually estimated to realize more than £10 million – the auction house sold three works for that price across all categories all last year.

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AO On Site-New York/Koln: Anthony McCall ‘Leaving (with Two-Minute Silence) Exhibited at Sean Kelly Gallery in New York and Gallery Thomas Zander in Koln, Germany

Monday, February 1st, 2010

An exhibition of work by British-born artist Anthony McCall is currently being exhibited at both the Sean Kelly Gallery in New York through January 30th, 2010 and Gallery Thomas Zander in Koln, Germany through February 20th, 2010.  Entitled ‘Leaving (with Two-minute Silence),’ McCall’s new work of  ‘solid light’ presentations are comprised of digital videos of carefully choreographed, intersecting lines and curves. The collections of intersecting shapes are projected in dark, haze-filled rooms and result in three-dimensional forms, constructed purely from light. The exhibition is interactive, and as the viewers move in and out of the projected light beams,  they must reconcile their perceived sense of fixed, three dimensional objects with the actual mutable properties that light possesses.


McCall’s work emphasizes the sculptural qualities of beams of light.

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