ART CITIES:London-Jac Leirner
Jac Leirner was one of Brazil’s first contemporary artists to rise to international prominence during the ‘90s. Her work references the history of Brazilian Constructivism and the legacy of Arte Povera and Minimalism. Leirner organises and presents her material in surprisingly complex ways, where the banality of each object is heightened, enabling a refocus on their form, color and beauty.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: White Cube Gallery Archive
The sculptures and the photographs in her solo exhibition “Junkie” are new, but they have their origins at a point in time around 30 years ago when Jac Leirner began to keep the ephemera and objects, some of which are associated with her addiction to drugs. Gathered over several years, the objects used in these new works were assembled and photographed during a cocaine frenzy over three nights in 2010. In this exhibition Leirner continues to explore themes key to her work, including referencing specific moments in art history, particularly Brazilian Modernism. In this new series of photographs, small, surreal sculptures carved from lumps of cocaine, are juxtaposed with objects found around the artist’s house, such as dice, razor blades and tweezers. Printed onto strips of plywood, the images are laid out in a line, mnemonically, and presented horizontally along the wall, creating a series of associations and narratives that charts the passing of time and the haze and energy associated with taking drugs. Shown alongside the photographs are a new series of wall-based sculptures that bring together items collected together over Leirner’s past years of addiction. Colorful cigarette papers and cigarette boxes are mounted onto plywood supports incorporating the bubble section of a sprit level into their compositions. The whole ensemble seems to present a sense of connection and equilibrium that drugs might promise to an addict or equally art might bring to the viewer. However, they remain simply the evidence from everyday life, extracted, arranged and composed in the most visual and straightforward manner. A group of suspended sculptures incorporate the butts and filters from used cigarettes and joints, strung onto steel cables and stretched across the exhibition space. As with the artist’s earlier cigarette sculptures, when lined up together this colorful detritus takes on a subtle, almost celebratory beauty.
Info: White Cube Gallery, 25-26 Mason’s Yard, London, Duration: 18/3-14/5/16, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, http://whitecube.com
