"real" space
the mahan gallery is pleased to present “real” space, an exhibition that contemplates the relationship between contemporary art and architecture. “real” space will showcase the works of highly acclaimed national and international artists, eric glavin, jake longstreth, moshe quinn, renee van halm, and carol warner. the exhibition will be in the mahan gallery opening friday, june 1 until saturday, june 23.
“real” space calls forth a discerning group of artists who are inspired and mystified by the architectural spaces surrounding them. they have been placed alongside each other in an effort to expel meaning from everyday constructed space.
art and architecture are two traditionally exclusive schools of thought. the intense creativity required to produce successful versions of both sets them in opposition to one another in the general realm of creativity. glorifying their formative counterparts, the “real” space artists pay homage to the visually stimulating, ephemeral, and communal possibilities within and without a simple series of walls.
just as architects in the periphery of “real” space are encouraged and discouraged by the land, the artists reacting to them push and pull in response. these artists pervade the architectural forum by depicting it as flat. the pieces that result pay tribute to the structures in question while simultaneously raising vast questions about them. so while the artists are resigned to gallery walls and two-dimensional surfaces, they do their best to capture the allure of pitting interior against exterior.
for the past six years eric glavin (view art): has been photographically documenting the façades of post-war buildings and using these photographs as a basis for constructing abstracted versions of these facades on the computer. glavin’s interest in using these façades was mainly because of their reference to grids and geometric patterns in modernist, hardedge painting. his intentions are to create ready-made paintings that blur the distinctions between abstract and representational imagery. eric glavin was born in 1977 in montreal, and lives and works in toronto, canada. his selected exhibitions include the robert birch gallery and mercer union centre for contemporary art in toronto, canada, biz-art in shanghai, china, galerie gaby kraushaar in düsseldorf, germany, and galerie susanne jojriis in copenhagen, denmark.
jake longstreth’s (view art): most recent series is entitled “wabi ranch”. the title is derived from the japanese word “wabi”, an untranslatable term related to quietness and simplistic elegance, contradicted by the term “ranch” which references a type specific (i.e. ranch house). the paintings in this series are inspired by, and depict commercial settings. art in america has described “wabi ranch” as “[an] uncanny experience of encountering a suburban town for the first time and seeing nearly nothing that you haven’t seen before.” this description could easily be mistranslated, evoking a negative connotation to the architecture depicted. however, after careful analysis, longstreth’s intentions of expressing an “odd comfort” from the familiarity and conveniences these buildings represent are revealed. “real” space will include the painting, “think tank” from this series that art forum has reviewed as “a convincing, stoic beauty”. longstreth was born in 1977 in connecticut, and lives and works in san francisco.
moshe quinn (view art): uses photography to work through interests of distance, space, and time, aided by an exploration of modern architecture. quinn documents the noiseless vacancy between two towering buildings. he questions the potential operativeness that could exist within this space. quinn’s series, exhibited in “real” space, titled “two towers and the space between them” is a smaller part of a project titled “facing towers”. moshe quinn currently lives and works in san fransico, california. his work has been awarded prizes in ohio and in san francisco, including the paul sack award. in 2005, he attended the anderson ranch arts center in colorado as a brooks fellow. his photographs have been exhibited in ohio, maine, new jersey, san francisco, los angeles and mastumoto, japan. in 2006, he received an mfa in photography from the san francisco art institute.
carol warner (view art): weaves together found images of architecture from magazines. this composite is intended to engage the viewer in an impossible process of decoding. the materials remind the viewer that media representations create an intricate pattern that can shape our cultural experiences. warner is based in new york city and holds an mfa in photography and related technology from parsons school of design. she has exhibited in new york, new jersey, pittsburgh, pennsylvania, and carlsbad, new mexico.
where we live has formed the basis for renee van halm’s (view art): work for over 30 years, which has taken many forms including paintings, painted constructions and installation works. regardless of the form the work has taken, van halm has continued to look at the underpinnings of lived space either in the public or private realms as it represents cultural and social paradigms. the recent body of work is called tourist and looks at architecture as it defines our sense of place today and results directly from research done while travelling and living in europe in recent years. the images portray sites that are distinct from the familiar landmarks that one identifies as tourist destinations. the select subjects are more similar to each other than the viewer might expect. these subjects take two forms: the new signature building that has become the new markers of our destinations, museums and store are represented undistinguishable in style from one another, and the unidentifiable, ubiquitous modernist structures where people live. renee van halm has been exhibiting since 1976. the majority of her exhibitions have taken place in her native home of canada. van halm has received numerous awards and grants and is included in a wide selection of private collections, including, the london regional art gallery, musee d’art contemporain, montreal, and the national gallery of canada.
for more information contact:
info@mahangallery.com
