m a g n e t i c_T
F E B 2 3 - M A Y 2 6 2 0 1 9
Warning:
This exhibition contains static magnetic and small electro-magnetic fields.
The exhibition will not be accessible to those wearing implanted ferromagnetic
or electronic medical devices sensitive to magnetic fields such as Pacemakers.
Four artists from four countries use Magnets, magnetism and magnetic fields to create profound and fascinating works that reference migrations, attraction, resistance and power.
The quality of ‘a living thing’; of something imbued with agency, is palpable. Without prior knowledge the works could almost be alive, haunted or mechanized. They breathe, take shape and reform; play as if internally motivated; are drawn and pulled in directions by something unseen or held suspended by invisible forces. The tension between agency and suspension is diagnostic.
An important element is the notion that something hidden can exert an unyielding force or cause change: the hidden device, a hidden power or presence, or a hidden method of operation. The ability to control the unseen; the exertion of force or power in ways that are not always discernible is ever-present. The connections with manifestations of power, repulsion and attraction are inescapable and timely.
The works allude to what we understand of directions and poles, and the processes of navigation or exploration. By their very nature, the movement of magnetic particles across a surface contain references to ongoing processes of mass movement, migration and searching.
Finally, the mythical, magical properties of magnetism convey a sort of suspension of disbelief. They are unbelievable. Four works. 350 needles in water, hitting glass is a sound work by Nelo Akamatsu entitled Chijikinkutsu. A repetitive, rolling dance distinguishes moving objects/ no. 502-519 by Pe Lang. The suspended trajectories of plumb bobs from around the world defines 240 points toward infinity by Tatiana Trouvé. And the migrating surface skin of Bearings by Zilvinas Kempinas.
Each physical suspension, uncanny dance, fragmentary, directional sound and poised trajectory allows us to reflect on the possibilities or impossibilities of balance in a world out of balance. These four artists use the power of magnetism to deceive, enchant and illuminate.
Four artists from four countries use Magnets, magnetism and magnetic fields to create profound and fascinating works that reference migrations, attraction, resistance and power.
The quality of ‘a living thing’; of something imbued with agency, is palpable. Without prior knowledge the works could almost be alive, haunted or mechanized. They breathe, take shape and reform; play as if internally motivated; are drawn and pulled in directions by something unseen or held suspended by invisible forces. The tension between agency and suspension is diagnostic.
An important element is the notion that something hidden can exert an unyielding force or cause change: the hidden device, a hidden power or presence, or a hidden method of operation. The ability to control the unseen; the exertion of force or power in ways that are not always discernible is ever-present. The connections with manifestations of power, repulsion and attraction are inescapable and timely.
The works allude to what we understand of directions and poles, and the processes of navigation or exploration. By their very nature, the movement of magnetic particles across a surface contain references to ongoing processes of mass movement, migration and searching.
Finally, the mythical, magical properties of magnetism convey a sort of suspension of disbelief. They are unbelievable. Four works. 350 needles in water, hitting glass is a sound work by Nelo Akamatsu entitled Chijikinkutsu. A repetitive, rolling dance distinguishes moving objects/ no. 502-519 by Pe Lang. The suspended trajectories of plumb bobs from around the world defines 240 points toward infinity by Tatiana Trouvé. And the migrating surface skin of Bearings by Zilvinas Kempinas.
Each physical suspension, uncanny dance, fragmentary, directional sound and poised trajectory allows us to reflect on the possibilities or impossibilities of balance in a world out of balance. These four artists use the power of magnetism to deceive, enchant and illuminate.
ZILVINAS KEMPINAS (Lithuania/New York)
Bearings
Bearings by Lithuanian artist Zilvinas Kempinas is a sculptural work installed on the floor. Kempinas often focuses on quality of movement; how we interpret the play of light across moving objects and how this might provoke certain feelings. On a low stage, a multiplicity of bearings moves across the surface; the oil in which they move adds a slippery quality that speaks of living things. A hidden system of rotating magnets gives the
bearings perpetual motion. The forming and reforming of these magnetic particles across the surface are suggestive of mass movements, migrations or shifting masses.
Image
Coming soon
Biography
Zilvinas Kempinas is an artist living and working in New York City. He completed an MFA at Hunter College, City University of New York, in 2002, and received a BFA from Vilnius Academy of Art, Lithuania, in 1993. Kempinas is represented in New York City and Paris by Yvon Lambert Gallery, in Vilnius by Vartai Gallery, and in Brazil by Galeria Leme.
Kempinas' first New York shows took place at PS1 Contemporary Art Center in 2003 and Spencer Brownstone Gallery in 2004. The artist has earned international acclaim since his entire second show at Spencer Brownstone – Columns and Bike Messenger – was purchased by The Margulies Collection in 2006 and exhibited during Art Basel Miami Beach that same year. In 2007, Kempinas was featured by Art Review Magazine as one of its 'Future Greats'. In the same year, he was awarded the Calder Prize and a residency at Atelier Calder in Saché, France. In 2008, the artist showed at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and, in 2009, in a solo show at the Kunsthalle, Vienna. In 2009, Kempinas represented Lithuania at the Venice Biennale 53rd International Art Exhibition in Venice, Italy.
Credits
Coming soon
PE LANG (Switzerland/Tokyo)
moving objects / no. 502-519
moving objects / no 502 - 519, by Pe Lang is a wall-based, sculptural work. There is something mesmerizing about self-similar objects moving together ; each circular magnet trapped in its own identical space, following some crazy slow dance that appears to have intent and purpose. This is also a sound piece : magnets and motors create a mechanized, sonic accompaniment.
Image
Coming soon
Biography
Credits
Coming soon
TATIANA TROUVE ́ (Italy /France)
240 Points Towards Infinity
240 Points Toward Infinity oscillates between the real, the imaginary and the illusory. Trouvé often transforms the limits of architectural and interior space. Here she makes use of the ancient practice of gravity and mass to determine that which is level and balanced: the plumb bob + line. 240 plumb bobs of different ages and from all over the world have been re-cast in ferrous metal. Each hangs suspended in mid-air, mapping out the trace of 240 alternative trajectories. The magnetic force that holds these solid metal pieces is buried beneath the floor, not visible to the viewer.
Image
Coming soon
Biography
Tatiana Trouvé was born in 1968 in Cosenza, Italy. She lives and works in Paris, France.
She has participated in major international group exhibitions such as the Biennale di Venezia (2003 and 2007), the 29th São Paulo Biennale (2010), the Hayward Gallery in London (2010), and the Pinault Foundation Punta della Dogana, Venice (2011), Biennale de Lyon (2015), Istanbul biennale (2017), Yokohama Triennale, (2017) and the BIENALSUR, 1st Contemporary Biennal of South America (2017). Solo exhibitions include Double Bind at Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2007), 4 Between 2 and 3 at Centre Pompidou, Paris (2008), A Stay Between Enclosure and Space at the Migros Museum, Zurich (2009), the South London Gallery, London (2010) and Il grande ritratto, an extensive exhibition inspired by the title of Dino Buzzati's science fiction novel and conceived in response to the challenging architecture of the Kunsthaus Graz (2010). The travelling exhibition I tempi doppi was presented at Kunstmuseum Bonn, Museion Bolzano-Bozen and Kunsthalle Nürnberg (2014). The Longest Echo at Mamco, Geneva inaugurated her first retrospective exhibition (2014). The Sparkle of Absence was her first solo show in China at Red Brick Museum, Beijing (2016). Public Art Fund commissioned Desire Lines on view at Central Park in New York in 2015. In 2018 she presented the solo exhibitions Le Numerose Irregolarità at the Villa Medicis in Rome, The Great Atlas of Disorientation at The Petach Tikva Museum of Art at Tel-Aviv and she presented a large scale installation of drawings from the Pinault Collection at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rennes.
In 2019 she will inaugurate three solo shows at the Broad Art Museum in the Michigan. In 2001 she won the Paul Ricard Prize, the Marcel Duchamp Prize in 2007 and the ACACIA Prize in 2014.
She has participated in major international group exhibitions such as the Biennale di Venezia (2003 and 2007), the 29th São Paulo Biennale (2010), the Hayward Gallery in London (2010), and the Pinault Foundation Punta della Dogana, Venice (2011), Biennale de Lyon (2015), Istanbul biennale (2017), Yokohama Triennale, (2017) and the BIENALSUR, 1st Contemporary Biennal of South America (2017). Solo exhibitions include Double Bind at Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2007), 4 Between 2 and 3 at Centre Pompidou, Paris (2008), A Stay Between Enclosure and Space at the Migros Museum, Zurich (2009), the South London Gallery, London (2010) and Il grande ritratto, an extensive exhibition inspired by the title of Dino Buzzati's science fiction novel and conceived in response to the challenging architecture of the Kunsthaus Graz (2010). The travelling exhibition I tempi doppi was presented at Kunstmuseum Bonn, Museion Bolzano-Bozen and Kunsthalle Nürnberg (2014). The Longest Echo at Mamco, Geneva inaugurated her first retrospective exhibition (2014). The Sparkle of Absence was her first solo show in China at Red Brick Museum, Beijing (2016). Public Art Fund commissioned Desire Lines on view at Central Park in New York in 2015. In 2018 she presented the solo exhibitions Le Numerose Irregolarità at the Villa Medicis in Rome, The Great Atlas of Disorientation at The Petach Tikva Museum of Art at Tel-Aviv and she presented a large scale installation of drawings from the Pinault Collection at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rennes.
In 2019 she will inaugurate three solo shows at the Broad Art Museum in the Michigan. In 2001 she won the Paul Ricard Prize, the Marcel Duchamp Prize in 2007 and the ACACIA Prize in 2014.
Credits
Coming soon
NELO AKAMATSU (Japan)
Chijikinkutsu
Chijikinkutsu by Nelo Akamatsu is made using water, sewing needles, glass tumblers and coils of copper wire. When electricity is supplied to a coil attached to the outside of each tumbler it creates a temporary magnetic field that draws the needle to the coil. The faint sound of needles hitting glass resonates in the space. The title of this delicate sound installation is derived from two Japanese words: Chijiki means geomagnetism: terrestrial magnetic properties that have always existed and affect everything on Earth. Suikinkutsu is a traditional installation for Japanese gardens, which came into use in the Edo period. Drops of water falling through an inverted earthenware pot buried under a stone washbasin would resonate through hollow, bamboo tubes. The installation explores ‘suikinkutsu’, not through the context of western science, music or technology, but rather through what the artist has referred to as a Japanese perspective on nature.
Image
coming soon
Biography
coming soon
Credits
coming soon