LIU BOLIN – MASK

Posted on 2013-06-17

In Liu Bolin’s new series, Hiding in California, the artist makes use of his famed process to blend into the background of the iconic Hollywood sign in addition to the pioneering TED stage. Hiding in California No. 1 – TED speaks to the innovative, creative, and groundbreaking minds that take to the TED platform to affect change in the world. It is a representation of the speakers – Liu Bolin himself included – who compile their ideas and their efforts under the TED banner in order to spread their message and craft a better tomorrow.

Hiding in California No. 2 – Hollywood is a representation of the countless individuals who dedicate themselves to the entertainment world that Hollywood has come to symbolize. It also serves as a representation of those who are lost and forgotten in the pursuit of the fame that Hollywood epitomizes. Both of these works speak to an America that is in many ways similar to the themes the artist portrayed in the Hiding in New York series.

In an expansion of his Hiding in New York series, Liu Bolin’s photograph, Hiding in New York No. 6 – Intrepid, is a multifaceted work speaking to both the prevalence of American strength as well as the consequence of military dominance.

Mask is a new body of sculptures that craft a contemporary twist on traditional Peking Opera masks. Peking Opera masks are traditional forms of art that are used to depict heroes, legends, and gods found in Chinese history and culture. They are symbolic reflections of Chinese society and its values. By recreating these masks using the advertising and labeling of popular food and drink products seen throughout China, Liu Bolin addresses the rapidly changing, highly commercialized values of Chinese society. By adding a necessary layer to these works-welding masks – Liu Bolin speaks to the dangers Chinese face in their contemporary society. With constant risk of food and drink contamination, living in China can feel as dangerous as working with molten hot metal. For this reason, the series Mask – an evolution of a traditional art form – is intensely provocative.

Opposite – Hiding in California No. 2 – Hollywood, 2013

Exhibition runs through till July 21st, 2013

Eli Klein Fine Art
462 West Broadway
New York
NY
10012

www.ekfineart.com

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TERRY RODGERS – APPROXIMATIONS OF THE SUBLIME

Posted on 2013-06-17

The artist continues to develop an iconography of muscled young men and slender young women, all more-or-less (un)dressed, adopting lascivious poses in a luxurious décor, ostentatious and baroque. Beyond one’s first impression, that of a contemplative voyeur snatching a glance of an orgiastic fest, what then suddenly hits you is the absence of rapport amongst the protagonists, the eerie sense of detachment. The characters seem isolated in their own bubbles, gazes never cross. “My paintings describe imaginary worlds born out of ‘offers’ peddled by the media – luxury, riches, as well as a ‘validated’ version of beauty and desire – but then always with a dose of reality running through it. Just how difficult is it for the participants to get out of themselves and to ‘connect’ with one another?” Each composition is realized starting from individual portraits, portraits of persons crossed in the street and asked by the artist to pose for him.These anonymous figures, who had never previously met, are then brought together at the heart of vast compositions. More rarely, they appear alone, but their attitude always suggests the presence of others outside our view.

In this process, photography plays a preponderant role – the models are photographed before being painted – but Rogers’ approach is decidedly painterly. His technique is perfectly mastered, but has nothing to do with photorealism. It goes right to the essential to better emphasize the play of artificial light on the skin, or to highlight the éclat of a piece of jewellery or a fabric.It is also particularly interesting to see him mutate into a veritable photographer, because these images are fundamental to understanding the thinking that underlies his work. Contrary to his paintings, the photographs have no special set or setting: the models emerge against a black background, plain, and appear as still more fragile and solitary. Beautiful as they may be (and indeed are), the bodies do not have the perfection that the brush provides them. And what is more, they do not benefit from the eternity that painting brings: they again become mortal.

Opposite – Marjin, 2013

Exhibition runs through till July 21st, 2013

Aeroplastics Contemporary
32 rue Blanche
1060 Brussels
Belgium

www.aeroplastics.net

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