ART CITIES:N.York-See sun, and think shadow

Borrowing its title from Louis Zukofsky’s short poem, “anew #21”, the group exhibition “See sun, and think shadow” uses the binary of light/dark not as a thematic end goal, but rather as an allegorical springboard into broader dichotomies that emerge as a result of examining compositional contrariety, such as hope and despair, familiar and foreign, human and mechanical, and real and representational.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Gladstone Gallery Archive

Featuring 12 artists working across a wide range of media, the exhibition “See sun, and think shadow” explores the formal tool of antithesis as it is manifest, in works from video and installation, to painting and photography. By interrogating opposites, the featured works elucidate the differences between two poles, and in the same breath, obscure any distinctions between two seemingly incongruous parts. However, this notion of incompatibility is not a paradox. Rather, it is a tool by which to interrogate uncertainty itself. Apostolos Georgiou’s ”Untitled” (2013), a composition in which narrative is just barely evident, utilizes figuration as an endeavor to upset the coherence of the picture plane. Hilary Lloyd’s video, “Sailor” (2010), through its presentation of the title subject in sequential images, straddles the line between prosaic observation and overt voyeurism. Lucas Blalock’s highly constructed photographs obliterate distinctions between documentary and artifice through the artist’s use of filmic and digital photographic techniques. Shahryar Nashat’s installation, “Present Sore” (2016) shows the body as a system of ready-at-hand tools in a format that mimics iPhone displays, thereby breaking down the boundaries between human and machine. Nora Schultz’s oversized Venetian blinds, while functional, negate their purpose without a light source to block. Amy Sillman’s animation, “Triscuits” (2011-2012), employs allusions to Bernie Boston’s Flower Power, Yiddish aphorism, and Soviet-era poetry as means to drive her ghostly characters through cyclical moments of expulsion and insertion. And Diane Simpson’s sculpture, an earth-toned tunic produced in rigid rectilinear form, renders utility null. Participating artists: Lucas Blalock, Liz Deschenes, Jessica Dickinson, Trisha Donnelly, Apostolos Georgiou, Hilary Lloyd, Shahryar Nashat, Blake Rayne, Nora Schultz, Amy Sillman, Diane Simpson, and Michael E. Smith.

Info: Organizer: Simone Battisti, Gladstone Gallery, 515 West 24th Street, New York, Duration: 23/6-30/7/16, Days & Hours: Mon-Fri 10:00-18:00, www.gladstonegallery.com