Nov. 11 - Dec. 23, 2016
Katja Loher
VUELA VUELA
C24 GALLERY 560 WEST 24th STREET, NYC WWW.C24GALLERY.COM
VUELA VUELA
Nov 11 - Dec. 23, 2016
C24 Gallery is proud to present VUELA VUELA, the second solo exhibition by Swiss artist Katja Loher. VUELA VUELA will be on exhibit November 11 – December 23, 2016. At this critical time for the planet, Katja Loher draws attention to the silent and gradual extinction of many species through the artifice of creating digital alternative interpretations and recombinations of reality. For over a decade, she has experimented with various forms of Videosculpture, combining nature and technology in a collective effort with architects, dancers, choreographers, anthropologists, costume designers and fabricators. With her images, sound and performance, Loher gives life to an enchanted world of intriguing creatures from the past and the present, generating both individual visions and personal readings. VUELA VUELA is an all-immersive installation experience that explores the four elements of nature by relating each one to creatures infused with mind and spirit. The exhibition space draws visitors into an alternative world as they peek into the round glass portals on the gallery’s facade. The performance begins inside as they encounter each element through sound and vision while traveling through a phantasmagoric and enchanted universe. Hand blown glass bubbles hold microcosms of beauty and complexity that capture entire worlds and alternate realities in an instance of time. Videoportals open a passage into dimensions where poetic statements materialize into human form creating words and letters that dance in space. Ballerinas take on the form of small creatures in a multicolored game of perspective and scale that ennoble the existence of tiny beings. Vibrating trees taken from nature ooze Videobubbles akin to liquid sap with images from the rainforest, the healer, his medicine and his plants, infusing the endangered forest with a second life in this digital world of magic. The spirit of the trees speaks, chanting the hummingbird song that symbolizes the connection between Earth and the Universe for the Ashanika healers from Peru - the song VUELA VUELA that has given the show its title. Dancers in costumes mimic the metamorphosis of the butterfly and the somatic sonar-type communication between individuals in ant colonies, flocks of birds and bee hives. Loher’s Videosculptures open windows into kaleidoscopic worlds of recombined images and visions that mix different realities. Visual collages are generated using footage taken from the artist’s travels in the Peruvian Amazon in combination with elaborate choreographies filmed from a bird’s eye view in her green screen studio in New York. The resulting images originate from her ongoing experiments in Cymatics - the study of visible sound based on waves of geometric pattern - undertaken in her Videolaboratory. Physical space is transformed into an ethereal world inhabited by the spirits of nature. Chorals, bees and hummingbirds emanate from floating Rainbowmakers that rotate in space and reflect onto the surrounding walls. It is a dimension where life and impermanence intertwine. It is a liminal zone where extinct creatures and endangered species haunt the spectator through the artifice of technology: that very modern form of magic that is able to recreate alternate worlds and imbue them with life. In this exhibition, Loher takes us on a new journey into the art of molding nature through the artifice of technology and performance. Loher´s artifacts generate a virtually real world where human action becomes a creative act rather than a destructive force. The mutual relation between technology, art and magic becomes natural in this virtual jungle where the ancestral healer still dwells. Art as artifice, art as practice, art as experience
Katja Loher was born in 1979 in Zurich, Switzerland, lives and works in New York City, NY. Loher’s work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions worldwide, including: The Bruce Museum, Greenwich, CT, USA (2016); Telfair Museum, Savannah, GA, USA (2015); World Expo Museum, Shanghai, China (2014); Figge Art Museum, Daven-port, Iowa, USA (2014); MuBE, Museu Brasileiro Escultura, São Paulo, Brazil (2012); Venice Architecture Biennale, Venice, Italy (2010); MAXXI Museum, Rome, Italy (2010); SIGGRAPH Asia, Yokohama, Japan (2009); Art Digital Moscow, Russia (2005) and the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia (2005), to name a few. Her work is featured in numerous private and public collections, including: Jorge Perez Collection, Miami, USA; Credit Suisse Collection, Zurich, Switzerland; 21C Museum, Kentucky, USA; Anthem of the Seas Collection, Miami, FL, USA; eN Arts Collection, Tokyo, Japan, Horsecross Collection, Perth, UK, Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa, USA and New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT, USA. Recently Loher’s work has been commissioned for large-scale architectural interventions at the new headquarters of SwissGrid, Switzerland (2017), Related Group/Jorge Perez SLS Hotel, Miami, USA (2016), and VIP Lounge Airport Bogota, Colombia (2015). COLLABORATORS: Gian-Maria Annovi: Poetry, Alexandra Bejarano: Text, Asako Fujimoto: Audio Design, Andrea Liberni: Planning/Visualization, Azumi Oe: Dancer/ Studio Assistant, Michiko Sakano: Glass Artist, Saori Tsukada: Choreography, Nozomi Yasuda: Costumes/Studio Assistant
Coral Rainbowmaker, 2016 clear acrylic sculpture suspended in the air, projector, media player, speaker 24 x 36 x 36 in (61 x 91.4 x 91.4 cm)
Where Does the Water Stop?, 2016 Edition of 5 floor projection, video circle 7:30min, looped, satellite with video projector, media player Size Variable
Where Today Turns into Tomorrow, 2015 two-channel video composition with sound, 7:15min, looped self-contained videosculpture; acrylic hemispheres, video screen embedded in wooden white finished case on/off switch and sound control 26 X 42.5 X 10 in ( 66 x 108 x 30.5 cm )
Hummingbird Rainbowmaker, 2016 rotating clear acrylic sculpture suspended from the ceiling, projector, media player and speaker 36 x 27 x 36in. (91.4 x 68.6 x 91.4cm)
How Can Butterflies Hydrate if Snow Melts at a Quicker Rate?, 2016 4-channel video composition with sound, 7min, looped video screens embedded in black matt acrylic rechargeable batteries on/off switch and sound control 20.5 x 20.5 x 20 in (52 x 52 x 50 cm )
Can a Hummingbird Fly Backward to the Origin of the World?, 2016 4-channel video composition with sound, 7min, looped. video screens embedded in black matt acrylic, rechargeable batteries, on/off switch and sound control 20.5 x 20.5 x 20 in (52 x 52 x 50 cm )
Let’s Bees Bee, 2016 4-channel video composition with sound, 7min, looped video screens embedded in black matt acrylic rechargeable batteries, on/off switch and sound control 20.5 x 20.5 x 20in (52 x 52 x 50 cm)
Do You Hear the Call for the Creatures’ Underworld?, 2016 single-channel video, 4:20 minutes, looped hand-blown glass bubble, video screen embedded in white acrylic 15 x 20 x 9.5in. (38.1 x 50.8 x 24.1cm)
Can Butterflies Fight the Smog in the Sky?, 2016 single-channel video, 6:40 minutes, looped hand-blown glass bubble, video screen embedded in white acrylic 15 x 20 x 7.5in. (38.1 x 50.8 x 19.1cm)
How Can Bees Ask for Help with their Dancing Alphabet?, 2016 single-channel video, 6:15 minutes, looped hand-blown glass bubble, video screen embedded in white acrylic 15 x 20 x 12in. (38.1 x 50.8 x 30.5cm)
Can Volcanoes Spit Incandescent Sap?, 2016 single-channel video, 7:10 minutes, looped hand-blown glass bubble, video screen embedded in white acrylic 15 x 20 x 5.5in. (38.1 x 50.8 x 14cm)
How Blue Can Smoke Be?, 2012 single-channel video, 4:20 minutes, looped hand-blown glass bubble, video screen embedded in white acrylic 15 x 20 x 7.5in. (38.1 x 50.8 x 19.1cm)
Bee Rainbowmaker, 2016 rotating clear acrylic sculpture suspended from the ceiling, projector, media player and speaker 47 x 40 x 47in. (119.4 x 101.6 x 119.4cm)
Can We Hear the Healers Call? 2016 Edition of 5 floor projection, video circle 7:30min, looped, satellite with video projector, media player Size Variable
Elmtree 1, 2016 Gray Elm Tree stump with 3 videobubbles, 3-chanel video composition with sound, 9:20min, looped, video projectors embedded in found tree stump, on/off switch and sound control 27 x 14 x 13.5in. (68.6 x 35.6 x 34.3cm)
Elmtree 2, 2016 Gray Elm Tree stump with 1 videobubble, 1-channel video composition with sound, 9:20min, looped video projectors embedded in found tree stump, on/off switch and sound control 71 x 32 x 28in. (180.3 x 81.3 x 71.1cm)
Elmtree 3, 2016 Gray Elm Tree stump with 3 videobubbles, 3-channel video composition with sound, 7:20min, looped, video projectors embedded in found tree stump, on/off switch and sound control 39 x 41 x 30.5in. (99.1 x 104.1 x 77.5cm)
Elmtree 4, 2016 Gray Elm Tree stump with 1 videobubble, 1-channel video composition with sound, 7:20min, looped, video projectors embedded in found tree stump, on/off switch and sound control 21 x 19 x 14.5in. (53.3 x 48.3 x 36.8cm)
Elmtree 5, 2016 Gray Elm Tree stump with 2 videobubbles, 2-channel video composition with sound, 7:20min, looped, video projectors embedded in found tree stump, on/off switch and sound control 37.5 x 28 x 23in. (95.3 x 71.1 x 58.4cm)
Where Does the Rainbow End?, 2015 one-channel video composition with sound, 6:15min, looped, self-contained videosculpture; acrylic hemispheres, video screen embedded in wooden white finished case, on/off switch and sound control 28 x 38 x 12in. (71.1 x 96.5 x 30.5cm)
KATJA LOHER
b. 1979 Zurich, Switzerland Lives and works in New York City EDUCATION 2004 Diploma, Department of Art and Media Art, Art Academy Basel, Switzerland 2001-4 FHBB HGK, Fine Art Academy, Basel, Switzerland 2000-1 ESBA, Fine Art Academy, Geneva, Switzerland SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2016 Where do Things in Dreams Go?, Galerie Andres Thalmann, Zurich, Switzerland Vuela Vuela, C24 Gallery, New York, NY, USA Se a Con Verde Sumir un Dia, Que con Poderá Substituí-la?, Galleria Lourdina Jean Rabieh, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Solo exhibition and Book launch 2015 How Can We Cool Down The Glided Sun Beams? New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT, USA Beeplanet, Telfair Museum, Savannah, Georgia, USA Interplanetary Orchestration on 11.11, NY, USA Where Does Time Begin?, Anya Tish Gallery, Houston, TX, USA 2014 BANG BANG, C24 Gallery, New York, NY, USA Interplanetary Kisses, with José Bedia, Lyle O. Reitzel, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Videoplanet-Orchestra, The Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA, USA 2013 Miniverse, with Peter Sauerer, Art Museum Uri, Switzerland Will the Moon…? Galerie Andres Thalmann, Zurich, Switzerland LOT, Land of Tomorrow, Louisville, KY, USA Who Collects Clouds in the Sky?, Anya Tish Gallery, Houston, TX, USA How Blue Can Smoke Be?, C-Space, Beijing, China 2012 Interplanetary Constellations, MuBE, Museu Brasileiro da Escultura, Sao Paulo, Brazil 2011 Miniverse#1, Galleria Tiziana Di Caro, Salerno, Italy Multiverse, Anya Tish Gallery, Houston, TX, USA Why Did the Bees Leave?, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, CO, USA Where was Green Born?, Braverman Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel Why Did the Bees Leave?, Vernon Project, Prague, Czech Republic 2010 Sculpting in Air, Galerie Andres Thalmann, Zurich, Switzerland 2009 Katja Loher: Galleria Tiziana Di Caro, Salerno, Italy Sculpting in Time, Anya Tish Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
2008 A.I.R. ONE, Substitut, Berlin, Germany 2007 Planêtre,Scène2, Senones, France Zwischen der Sonne und den Orangen, Tony Wuethrich Galerie, Basel, Switzerland Les Jeux sont Faites, Kunsthalle Palazzo, Liestal, Switzerland 2006 A view to the Planets 2006, Forum Vebikus, Schaffhausen, Switzerland Schachfeld, Dublin Fringe 2006, Dublin, Ireland Where Ever You May Be, The Artist Network Gallery, New York, NY, USA 2005 Love.com, The State Hermitage Museum, St.Petersburg, Russia Switzerland Festival Rose D’Or, KKL Luzern, Luzern, Switzerland GROUP EXHIBITIONS (SELECTED) 2016 Small Scales: Lands of Enchantment, The Bruce Museum, Greenwich, CT, USA XX Part Two: 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Anya Tish Gallery, Houston, TX, USA The 3rd China International Art Forum & Exhibition on Installation Art, Today Art, Museum, Beijing, China 2015 COLOR ART COIRIS, Casa Calle 78, Bogota, Colombia CANVAS, Outdoor Museum Exhibition, West Palm Beach, USA IDENTITE REVE(L)EE, mi Gallery, Paris, France ART TODAY: 2000- Present, NBMAA, New Britain, CT, USA Pool Party, Anya Tish Gallery, Houston, TX, USA 2014 Exhibition & Forum for Art Installation, Long Museum, Shanghai, China Werkstoff Glas, Vebikus, Schaffhausen, Switzerland Artworks for Change, Nature’s Toolbox Art and Invention, University of Northern Iowa Gallery of Art, Iowa, USA Cool Stories for when the Planet gets hot IV. Artport Homage to Domestic Familiarity III, Anya Tish Gallery, Houston TX 2013 Around the Table, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA, USA Other Voices, C24 Gallery, New York, NY, USA The Leonardo, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA (upcoming) Nature’s Toolbox, Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, Kansas, USA 2012 The Field Museum, Chicago, IL, USA Augmentations, Municipality Gallery Netanya, Israel 2011 Dialogicos, Galleria Lourdina Jean Rabieh, Sao Paulo, Brazil Photography as Object, Martha Schneider Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA 2010 NETinSPACE MAXXI, National Museum of the Arts of the XXIst Century, Rome, Italy Collapsoscope, Biennale di Venezia - 12th International Architecture, Arsenal
Nord, Venice, Italy Nature’s Toolbox, United Nations Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo, Shanghai, China New Sculptural Media, Armory Center for the Arts, Los Angeles, CA, USA Collapsoscope, Porsche Center, Padova, Italy 2009 Post Dimension - A Journey in the Contemporary Art, Torrione Passari, Bari, Italy Siggraph Asia 2009, Yokohama, Japan TINA B, Festival of Contemporary Art, Prague, Czech Republic Modern Art Gallery Taichung / Found Museum, Beijing, China Biennale Chongqing, Chongqing, China Dialogue of the Generations, Kunsthalle Palazzo, Liestal, Switzerland 2008 SUMMERTIME 08, Galleri Christoffer Egelund, Copenhagen, Denmark Primacy, Threshold Art Space, Perth, UK Art Is My Playground, Tershane, Istanbul, Turkey 2007 New York City Panorama, Flux Factory, New York, NY, USA Biennale Parallel, Tershane Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey 798/Dashanzi Art Festival, Beijing, China NO1 Artbase, 798 Area, Beijing, China Forum & Elzbieta Koscielak Gallery, Lesnica Castle, Zamek, Poland 2006 Iaab Choices, Kunstraum Riehen, Basel, Switzerland Alexander Clavel Fundation Prize, Villa Wenkenhof, Basel, Switzerland 2005 Art Digital 2005, M’ARS Centre of Contemporary Arts, Moscow, Russia SELECTED ART FAIRS 2016 Art Miami, with C24 Gallery, New York, USA Contemporary Istanbul, with C24 Gallery, New York, USA Art Southampton, C24 Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY, USA Art New York, C24 Gallery, New York, NY, USA CONTEXT Art Miami, Solo Booth, Gallery Andres Thalmann, Zurich, Switzerland 2015 Contemporary Istanbul, with C24 Gallery, New York, USA PULSE New York with C24 Gallery, New York, NY, USA 2014 Istanbul Contemporary & Artist Talk, C24 Gallery, New York, USA VOLTA New York, Solo booth, with C24 Gallery, New York, USA SP- Arte, 3 artist booth, with Galleria Lourdina Jean Rabieh, Sao Paulo, Brazil 2013 Contemporary Istanbul with C24 Gallery, New York, USA PULSE Miami with C24 Gallery, Miami, FL, USA PULSE New York with C24 Gallery, New York, USA
2012 Impulse, Pulse Miami, Solo booth, with Scaramouche Gallery, New York Houston Art Fair, Solo booth, with Anya Tish Gallery, Houston 2011 Loop Barcelona 10, with Braverman Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel Roma Contemporary Art Fair, Out of Range Section, with Tiziana di Caro, Salerno Art Stage Singapore, Solo booth, with Galerie Vernon, Prague 2010 Kunst 10 Zürich, Solo booth, with Galerie Andres Thalmann, Zürich Artissima 17 International, Fair of Contemporary Art in Torino, with Tiziana di Caro, Salerno VOLTA Basel, Lightbox, Solo booth, with Vernon Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic 2009 Art Verona on Stage, Solo booth, with Galleria Tiziana di Caro, Salerno 2008 Art 39 Basel, with Tony Wuethrich Galerie, Basel 2007 Istanbul Contemporary Art Fair, with Tershane Gallery, Istanbul 2006 Diva Digital & Video Art Fair, New York, with theartistnetwork, New York PUBLIC INSTALLATIONS 2017 Where Does the Rainbow End?, permanent Art intervention, New Headquarter Swissgrid, Switzerland 2016 What Did the Tree Learn From the Earth to be Able to Talk with the Sky?, Permanent Art Intervention, Related Group, SLS Brickel, Miami, USA 2014 Oasis Lounge, Sala FBO Helistar VIP Lounge, Airport Bogota, in collaboration with Cientoocho Arquitectura Bogota, Columbia 2013 Museum Night, Kammgarn Schaffhausen VIP Lounge, Houston Contemporary Art Fair 2011 James Bond, Art Party, Zurich AWARDS 2015 2013 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2004
Winner of Art on Architecture Competition, Swiss Grid RDA Grant, Videoplanet-Orchestra at Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA Art Credit Award, Basel-Stadt Artist in Residence, 6 month Beijing, China. iaab: International Exchange & Studio Program, Basel ValiART-Award by Valiant, Bern Audiovision and Multimedia Grant, Canton Basel Artist in Residence, 6 month Berlin, Germany, Cultural Department Schaffhausen 0-1 Artist Visa, Artist in Residence, New York Alexander Clavel Foundation Cultural Development Prize, Riehen, Basel Artist in Residence, 6 month New York, iaab: International Exchange & Studio Program Basel TPC CreaTVty Award for new media, TPC Production Center Zurich Art Credit Award, Basel-Stadt
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS Art collection for Anthem of the Seas, Royal Cruise, SUNSHINE 2, ROYAL ESPLANADE DECK 4 New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT, USA Figge Museum, Davenport, Iowa, USA 21C Museum, Louisville, Kentucky, USA Credit Suisse Collection, Geneva, Switzerland eN Arts Collection, Tokyo, Japan GC. AC - Galleria Comunale d‘Arte Contemporanea of Monfalcone, Italy Horsecross Collection, Permanent Collection of Digital Art, Perth, UK Sara Lahat Private Collection, Herzliya, Israel Private Collections in Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, China, Germany, Guatemala, Israel, Italy, Japan, Russia, Switzerland, South Africa and USA New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, USA
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