Annalisa Perazzi Kim Jong Il Ronald Reagan Matt Kleenex Ramon Esquiverna Laetitia Ann-Saedler Scott Lawrence Camilla Perowski-Wittgenstein Edo Udo Rachel Minnesota
Monochrome The Longest Show Title of the Universe is Here From September 28 to October 27, 2012 by: Opening Reception: Friday, SeptemberCurated 28, 7-9 PM Franklin Delano and NURTUREart Gallery Eric Sutherland 56 Bogart St., Brooklyn, NY 11206 From April 26 to May 28, 2012 Opening Reception: Friday, May 28, 7-9 PM NURTUREart Gallery 56 Bogart St., Brooklyn, NY 11206
Pants, Shirts, etc. The raw and the cooked in Scott Lawrence’s art. by Marco Antonini
We all, more or less, wear pants. Old and young, women and men, tall and short people from all parts of the world (with a few awesome exceptions) pick their style of casual, sporty, uniform, fancy pants basically every morning right before going out in the world and putting on their public selves for just another day. As much as any other popular clothing items, pants are mundane, yet culturally charged objects. History-rich as in the case of Jeans: durable sailing pants first popular in Genova, --hence the name-- made of Denim cotton imported from Nimes that have become a symbol of pragmatism (some would call it freedom) worldwide thanks to their success in North America. Strongly codified as in a pair of formal, business-minded pinstripe pants, so indissolubly tied to the ethics and aesthetics of Capitalist power, their cold elegance echoed by Frank Stella’s ominous, great early canvases and by Minimalism’s nods to what Rosalind Krauss has not hesitated to describe as a “violent” form of abstraction. And of course all-out weird like a pair of exaggerated, funky designer pants, engendering the kind of common taste disruptions that visual artists have often themselves adopted to defy and elude expectations. From tradition-rich sartorial models to uniforms, to silky/silly Hammer (actually, “Harem”) pants to stretch sequined overalls to eye-piercing floral extravaganzas; all pants can, in their own way, make sense, and generally exist for a reason
Pants Sculpture II, 2009. Pants and wood, 20 x 28 x 28 inches.
that’s far beyond their practical use-value. While something like a pair of pants contains distinctive elements of material culture, design and style, it can also be considered as raw material whose modicum of creative surplus is surpassed and shadowed by its own ordinariness. In Scott Lawrence’s hands, pants become a skin, stretched to their limits and re-objectified in sculptures whose appearance range from the hopelessly clumsy to the positively elegant, somewhere between high-minded Minimalism and dive-bar joke. Lawrence’s approach fits perfectly in a history of artistic media that has seen a constant development in the definition of “raw” materials, upgrading them to increasingly impure and sophisticated products on a path defined by both technological innovation and consumerism. One of the biggest and most fascinating promises of late modernist art and design was that of elevating the physical qualities of even the humblest material to the raison d’etre of the final product, adapting creativity to circumstances and/or need, and not the other way around. Lawrence’s pants sculptures, canvas frames wrapped in dress shirts, and repurposed picture frames work in the same direction but privilege finished products and pre-processed components. Often elegantly monochromatic or otherwise visually understated, Lawrence’s works reveal a desire to explore materials in a reverse method that is aimed at locating a poetic, imaginative and often humorous surplus within the rigorously limited number of structural variables that they offer. Using deconstruction, multiplication, obliteration or any other form of manipulation that is directly suggested by the form and function of the original products (sometimes by their name as in his video-performance Folding Chair), the art-
Pants Sculpture VI, 2009. Pants and wood, 17 x 34 x 34 inches.
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ist reveals their innermost possibilities, investing them of new meanings, ultimately inviting us to reconsider their potential, question their original identity and, in his own words, setting up a clear context/logic against which poetry may exist.
Above and Left: Pants Sculpture III, 2009. Painted pants and wood. 22 x 38 x 42 inches. Next page: Pants Sculpture VII, 2012. Pants and wood, 38 x 40 x 18 inches. 2012 + The Magic of Believing (Black & White), 2012. Dress shirt on panel, 15 x 16 inches.
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Pants Sculpture VIII, 2012. Pants and wood, 14.5 x 28 x 24 inches.
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The Magic of Believing (Black and White), 2012. Dress shirt fabric on panel, 16 x 17 inches.
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The Magic of Believing (Red), 2012. Dress shirt fabric on panel, 13 x 16 inches.
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The Magic of Believing (Black II), 2012. Men’s dress shirt on panel, 14 x 16 inches ca.
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Folding Chair, 2012. Metal folding chair.
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Folding Chair, 2012. Single channel video, edition of 6.
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Personal Monochromes, 2012. Archival digital prints and acrylic in found frames. Various sizes.
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Diptych, 2012. Spray paint on paper, found frames, glass. 25.5 x 40 inches.
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NURTUREart Non-Profit Inc. is dedicated to nurturing contemporary art by providing exhibition opportunities and resources for emerging artists, curators, and local public school students. The unique synergy between NURTUREart’s programs generates a collaborative environment for artistic experimentation. This framework, along with other far-reaching programming, cultivates a supportive artistic network and enriches the local and larger cultural communities. NURTUREart Non-Profit Inc. is a 501(c)(3) New York State licensed, federally tax-exempt charitable art organization founded in 1997 by George J. Robinson. NURTUREart is funded in part by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Barclays, City Council Member Diana Reyna, City Council Member Stephen Levin, the Greenwall Foundation, the Greenwich Collection, the Harold and Colene Brown Foundation, the Laura B. Vogler Foundation, the Leibovitz Foundation, the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, the Milton and Sally Avery Foundation, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York City Department of Education, The New York State Council on the Arts, The Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason Foundation and generous individuals. It receives legal support from Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.
NURTUREart Sponsors : The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts City Council Member Diana Reyna City Council Member Stephen Levin The Durst Family Foundation The Greenwall Foundation The Greenwich Collection, LTD The Harold and Colene Brown Family Foundation The Laura B. Vogler Foundation The Leibovitz Foundation Lily Auchincloss Foundation Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation New York City Department of Cultural Affairs New York City Department of Education New York State Council on the Arts Urban Outfitters WNYC Star Initiative The Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason Foundation Many generous individuals Thank You : Brooklyn Brewery Societe Perrier Printing For Less Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
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56 Bogart Street Brooklyn, NY 11206 L train to Morgan Avenue T 718 782 7755 F 718 569 2086 E gallery@nurtureart.org www.nurtureart.org Directions: By Subway: L train to the Morgan Avenue stop. Exit the station via Bogart Street. Look for the NURTUREart entrance on Bogart Street, close to the intersection with Harrison Place. By Car: Driving From Manhattan: Take the Williamsburg Bridge, stay in the outside lane, and take the Broadway / S. 5 St. exit. Turn left at light onto Havemeyer St. Turn right next light onto Borinquen Place, continue straight, street will change name to Grand Street. Turn right onto Bushwick Ave, left onto Johnson Ave, then right onto Bogart Street. Look for our entrance at the corner of Bogart Street and Harrison Place.