|
The Goss-Michael Foundation is pleased to present an exhibition by
British artist Adam McEwen. The exhibition opened to the public on Friday,
April 13 and continues through Saturday, July 28.
The
Goss-Michael Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to
providing a forum for contemporary art and with a focus on British Art by
presenting exhibitions and programs, aims to educate, engage, and inspire
young and adult audiences in Texas, the United States, and around the
world. Earlier exhibitions have featured Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Tim
Noble and Sue Webster, Sarah Lucas, Marc Quinn, Michael Craig-Martin, Jim
Lambie, and Nigel Cooke.
Adam McEwen's show at The Goss-Michael
Foundation consists of different media including sculpture, painting, and
installation. McEwen's work resides somewhere between the celebratory and
the funereal. It identifies strands of European melancholy in the Pop
object, and the scuffs of history and consumerism on the sheened surfaces
of minimalism.
This is represented through his sculptures,
made of machined graphite, a material McEwen has employed since 2007. Each
meticulously carved sculpture reproduces the original in scale and detail.
These mute representations of everyday objects—an air conditioner, a
drinking fountain, an unfurled yoga mat—have a deadened, perfected
air that is at odds with their banality and intimacy.
McEwen's
work often aims to shake us temporarily out of our passive acceptance of
mass media and to highlight the blurred line between history and fiction.
One of McEwen's best known works, Untitled (Jeff, Nicole, Macaulay,
Bill, Rod, Marilyn, Malcom), part of The Goss-Michael Collection, is
from his Obituary series shown at the Whitney Biennial in 2006. He
used the over-familiar format of the obituary to create momentary ruptures
of accepted reality since the obituaries were of famous people who in fact
were still alive.
His monochromatic paintings with blobs of
dirty, chewed gum stuck on the canvases, some named after German cities
bombed in World War II, work like meditation pieces on expectations,
including The Goss-Michael Collection's New York, New York. He has
created works made of text messages sent from friends which taken out of
context seem to turn into riddles and cryptic questions, twenty of which
are permanently installed as wall text at the Foundation titled Untitled
Text Msg.
Adam McEwen was born in Great Britain in
1965 and currently lives and works in New York. Adam McEwen's work has been
included in numerous group shows including Haunted, Guggenheim
Museum, New York (2010); Beg, Borrow and Steal, Rubell Family
Collection, Miami (2009); The Reach of Realism, MOCA Miami (2009);
Into Me/Out of Me, MoMA PS1, New York; and the Whitney Biennial
2006, New York. In 2010 he curated Fresh Hell at the Palais de
Tokyo, Paris, as part of their Carte Blanche series.
The
Goss-Michael Foundation was founded by George Michael and Kenny Goss in
June 2007. The Foundation offers the public a rotating schedule of
exhibitions derived from Goss and Michael's private collection of British
contemporary art as well as other institutions. These exhibitions serve as
a challenge to preconceived art notions and strive to set a new standard in
artistic awareness by providing visitors with fresh and fascinating art
experiences. Through these experiences, the Foundation hopes to generate
new perspectives and conversations on the creative methods of contemporary
artists. Locally, the Foundation is dedicated to contributing to Dallas'
thriving artistic community and enhancing the public's familiarity and
interaction with contemporary and emerging British artists. The Foundation
fosters young artists in Dallas, and throughout Texas through numerous
scholarships and art education programs.
*Image above:
Adam McEwen, Untitled (Jeff, Nicole, Macaulay, Bill, Rod,
Marilyn, Malcolm), 2002–2004.
C-print, 40 x 29
inches. Photo: Nicole Klagsbrun, New York. Courtesy The Goss-Michael
Collection, Dallas, TX.
|
