this resource - Art Institute of Chicago
Transcription
this resource - Art Institute of Chicago
CECILIA E D E F A L K DOUBLE CECILIA EDEFALK is a Swedish painter or deeply concentrated, expres WHITE VENUS varied scale, one or more of which are distinctively presented with a projected sively oblique images. The artist exhibits image of a painting trom the same series. comparatively tew paintings; her studio- The combination of actual painting and based process demands periods of intense projection, while both innovative in the absorption and, at times, isolation. Her field at large and new within the context work, almost always a serial exploration ot the artist's oeuvre, is squarely consis of a single motif, is distinguished by tent with her investigations to date. experiments with duplication, scale, and installation. Edefalk can be a brilliant In one way or another, all of Edefalk's colorist, but she generally restricts her paintings emerge from a dialogue with palette. The mode is essentially figurative, other modes of representation, most although some or the latest exercises verge notably photography. Importantly, her on total abstraction. This focus exhibition relationship to photography does not center at the Art Institute of Chicago, Edefalk's on its ubiquity; rather, she is selectively first solo museum show in the United invested in quirky, esoteric finds. Past States, premieres a series of new paintings subjects, forming a seemingly incongruous executed in spectral grays, blues, and and idiosyncratic list, include the comedy whites. In process since 1999, the works duo Laurel and Hardy, self-portraits, a are based on a black-and-white snapshot couple having sex, and a Roman marble the artist made of a fragmented, classical mask ot a voung Marcus Aurelius. Her sculpture of Venus in a garden. The topics, however, are never chosen tor their finished paintings rely in equal parts upon most obvious attributes. Laurel and Hardy this image, the artist's memory, painterly serve as a way to explore spatial dynamics, incident, and a touch of mysticism. The not slapstick humor. The hardcore sex pic exhibition includes 12 canvases of widely tures are a vehicle to reflect on Buddhism, not pornography. A carving of Marcus the actual m o t i f . . . . I n o t i c e d that I was able to Aurelius provides a formal trope to investigate t r a n s m i t a certain intensity l y i n g s o m e h o w the phases of the moon, not Roman history. beside, n o t b e h i n d what the d r a w i n g represented, like overtones i n m u s i c . W i t h i n a given g r o u p Repetition is central to the artist's methodology; her painting practice inten o f w o r k s , each w o r k is repeated i n a n i n d i v i d u a l way. R e p e t i t i o n is a t o o l to express different ideas." tionally confuses original, replica, and copy. In 1990, facing a creative impasse just two years after her first solo exhibition, Edefalk made a painting, Another Movement, of a photograph taken from a magazine: a shirtless man rubbing, perhaps applying lotion to, a woman's exposed back. She then exactingly repeated the image—first in a small format and then in a larger size—six more times. Aside from the scale of the works, the differences between canvases in the series involve only subtle tonal and tactile shifts. When she returned to live in Stockholm in 1999, after nine years based in Germany, the artist reprised the exhibition of the complete series, installing it in the very same space in which it was first presented.' For Edefalk, repetition can summon the comfort of the familiar; in this sense, the exhibition strategy was meaningful in the context Edefalk's project is peculiarly conceptual. She is a profound and sensitive thinker who also happens to be a painter, and her concerns as an artist extend beyond the specific limits of the medium. Sol Le Witt famously wrote: "Conceptual artists are mystics rather than rationalists. They leap to conclusions that logic cannot reach." ' Edefalk's choices are guided by just such an uncanny, rigorous intuition. Mystery and magic inspire her imagination. Ultimately, the Venus reference, like all of the artist's chosen themes, reveals itself as a cipher. The series explores her belief in the power of chance, accident, and circumstance and in the hidden purposes and attendant obligations of uncovering coincidence. Her work remains open, or is an opening, to the possibilities of the unseen and the unexpected. of a homecoming. The tactic, however, evidences a more ambitious intellectual conceit. The artist explains: R e p e t i t i o n is a w a y to u n d e r l i n e the uniqueness o f p a i n t i n g . . . . I realized that i f I w o r k e d l o n g For Edefalk, sculpture, notably historic statuary, has been a creative catalyst. She has consistently used the medium of painting to reflect on experiences— e n o u g h o n a d r a w i n g , the graphite o n the paper epiphanies, even—that bind her ro particular w o u l d start to live a life o f its o w n [aside from] works of art. During a 1998 visit to Italy, THE END OF T H E C I R C L E CECILIA EDEFALK In the autumn of 1999 I was visiting London. At the Tate, I was intrigued by J . M . W. Turner's paintings. I went to the cafeteria in the basement, which comprised many rooms, including a circular one. Working there was a man with one white eye and one normal, very dark eye—he fascinated and scared me at the same time. He looked perhaps North African and I thought it could be interesting to paint his portrait. I chose a bottle of lemongrass-and-ginger pressé and sat down in the circular room to the right of the door. I couldn't open the bottle and I asked the w o m a n at the register for help; she pointed to the man with the special eye. He helped me open it and smiled. As I drank slowly—the taste was very intense—I studied the label. It had an expiration date of May 6, 2000, 15:33. The preciseness of the "15:33"—3:33 in the after noon—surprised me. I drank half the contents and put the bottle in my handbag. On my way out I bought another bottle with the same date and asked for the man who had helped me, but he had left for the day. I wrote a note for him—his name was A m o r e — " L o v e " in a different language. I wondered what I for example, the artist became fascinated H e r itinerary, c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y delays, d e t o u r s , by a quattrocento statue, a polychrome, a n d t e m p o r a l loops, is far r e m o v e d f r o m the wooden angel of the Annunciation, in the expectations o f the m e d i a o r the art m a r k e t . Museo d'Arte Sacra in San Gimignano. She w o r k s i n s l o w m o t i o n , a n d it seems to m e This led to a series of paintings of the that her p a i n t i n g s rely u p o n the c o n s i d e r a b l e figure—again starting small and then t i m e s p a n that separates t h e m . A p a i n t i n g b y gaining in scale—called Elevator (1998). E d e f a l k is a rare t h i n g , a n d the scarcity o f the She became similarly transfixed by a o u t p u t seems i n t r i n s i c t o her w a y o f w o r k i n g . ' Roman marble mask of Marcus Aurelius while preparing an exhibition at the In 2000 Edefalk made two small, nearly Malmo Konstmuseum in 1999. The result identical grisaille oil paintings based on was a cycle of paintings titled To View the the Venus photograph. A third, similar Painting from Within (2000-02). In M a y painting of the same size was completed 2000, Edefalk experienced a revelatory in 2003. Subsequently, Edefalk recognized moment—the culmination of a series of the base of the statue as an ideal surface— seemingly unconnected coincidences— a white cube, literally—on which to in the garden of the Chelsea Arts C l u b "hang" an image of another version of in London. In the darkness of night, she the same painting. W i t h this revelation, glimpsed a flash of unexplained light the idea for the series began to crystallize. emanating from a grove of fig trees (see She created a larger composition with a "The End of the Circle" below). In this small facsimile of the painting rendered case, unlike in other instances, Edefalk on the sculpture's base as if it had been did not knowingly have a direct experience projected there. Edefalk was intrigued by of sculpture; she only discovered the the complexities of thinking about "a Venus amid the greenery the next morning painting inside a painting." (The title of when she returned to the scene. A t that the sex paintings, executed ten years 4 time, she took one black-and-white earlier, is In the Painting the Painting) photograph—with a flash—of the statue. As new works emerged, they became This image became the basis for a series of progressively lighter, larger, and more new paintings, the artist's most ambitious abstract. She began experimenting with and strikingly original to date. tempera on an unprimed, raw linen support. In the sixth version, Edefalk This body of work took shape slowly. rotated the canvas in process, allowing the As critic Daniel Birnbaum has written: paint to flow in different directions. would be doing on May 6, 2000. I prepared myself for everything, but I believed that whatever was going to happen to me would not occur in Stockholm. The following spring, I was asked to teach in Malmó a week before the special date. Six days in advance, I decided to join friends going to London for the opening of Tate Modern on May 9. I went to London via a ferry to Copenhagen. There was only one man in the booking office. I saw him from far away and thought there was something strange about him. On my way out I looked him in the eyes—they were Mercury. I arrived at Tate Britain from the airport shortly after 3:00 and entered the cafeteria at 3:20. There were only a few people there, but the man with the black'white eyes was one of them. He was talking with a female colleague in the passage outside the circular room. I sat down at the same place as the year before and put the bottle I had bought in the fall on the table. Looking at it, I was struck by a yellow light that seemed to emanate from inside, and on the glass I could see the reflection of a white shape changing These drips, articulated in the artist's has a n i n t e r e s t i n g m o v e m e n t — r e a c h i n g o u t notes in advance, allow the "paint to do a n d o p e n i n g u p . I n a w a y it is a "teversed" g r a n d the work." Nearing the end of the series, finale to the series that p o i n t s to s o m e t h i n g the statue dematerializes, appearing only as n e w i n m y p a i n t i n g . I never d a r e d to be elegant a silhouette, but always in precisely the i n this w a y before." same location. The image of the painting on the base becomes a vestigial shadow. The complexly repetitive, serial nature of The drips themselves now form the central her endeavor has led Edefalk to think in element of the composition. By the unconventional terms about installation, seventh canvas, the work is increasingly which she regards as an integral part of improvisational and schematic. In the ninth, her pracrice. In order to maximize the Edefalk introduced black marker lines and possibility for differentiation, she makes added a layer of clear plastic collage to the use of mirror effects and displays paintings surface. She gave the originally limbless petpendicular to one another or upside Venus arms and removed the image of down. All of this establishes a carefully the painting from the base of the statue. choreographed system of viewing. Such The arrist's next rwo works—a small, animated configurations lend a performative single canvas and a large, faint, horizontal quality to her exhibitions. The effect is diptych—use a mirroring strategy, depicting also distancing: the repetition breeds a double of the sculpture as i f reflected estrangement. Despite the presence of in water. Here, in a fitting return to a discrete, beautifully made paintings, no photographic effect, the painted Venus single work asks to be regarded as auto dissolves, replaced by her own negative nomous or even precious. Interactions image. Intriguingly, the series ends with among images and objects, places and an emphatically painterly work. While it people—in the studio, in the museum, in harks back to the earliest paintings in private or otherwise personal moments— terms of scale and medium, it also, Edefalk tecali and generate associative chains of believes, reveals a new sensibility: memories and meanings. This energy is, for the artist, m o t e important than any T h e l i g h t o f t w o heavenly w i n t e r days m a d e it individual painting. Edefalk's conception possible for m e to m a k e this last s m a l l p a i n t i n g . of the display of these paintings has, for It was d o n e i n o n e g o , very q u i c k l y , a n d is some years, involved the use of slide ethereal, almost invisible. T h e p o d i u m is a datket projection. (In fact, the idea preceded the tone o f b l u e , n o t a w h i t e c u b e , a n d the figure subject of the series. Because she is not from an eight into a zero into two circles. The man and the w o m a n entered the room and sat down on the other side of the door. They talked about work and at 3:30 Amore said, "It is a very special day today." The w o m a n left and I decided to talk to him. I walked over to his side, telling him why I was there and invited him to look at the bottle. Examining it carefully, he said, "It is a very strange light. I don't believe in magic, but it is a very special light." He fetched a newspaper, the Guardian, and pointed at a small article. I could read "Peace talks collapse" in Algiers between Somalia and Eritrea. The man himself was Eritrean. To the right of the article was a big advertisement for Ridley Scott's film Gladiator. I took photographs of the bottle and the newspaper and I asked if I could photograph him. We planned on meeting again the next day. I forgot the bottle in the taxi to the hotel. The following day we took pictures of each other. After the opening of Tate Modern some days later, an old friend asked me to join him at his private club. It was late on a starry night when we arrived at the white two-story house in Chelsea. He led me out particularly prolific, Edefalk had long For Edefalk, slide projection becomes a considered projecting a slide of one of her self-consuming form of repetition that paintings on the wall as an efficient re-creates and erases, empowers and method of making more work. She has diminishes painting. As installed, the small also recently begun re-presenting her own originals are virtually lost in the shadow paintings as exquisite photographic and of the larger, ersarz painting. The overlay filmic details.) W i t h i n the space of this of images collapses the spatial and temporal exhibition, Edefalk matches the painted distances—and elides the material differ- doubling that occurs within a number of ences—between the rwo forms of visual the works—the image repeated on the information. Edefalk understands memory statue base—with an actual, ten-by-seven and picture as equally impoverished foot projection of a slide of the second of records of the real. In this way, the projection the three small paintings. This projection is the truest corollary to the artists own is superimposed over an original work experience in the garden. Light, like hung on the wall in such a way that the remembrance, is intangible, fugitive. small painting appears on the base of the Edefalk imagines painting as a facsimile magnified image. W i t h i n the space of the of a fragment. In turn, she transforms her projected painting, the role of the tiny painted world into a phantom version replica is assumed by a real object. Among of itself, and, in the process, returns the other things, this dramatic exchange original image, and its inspired source allows the artist a different access to scale. experience, back to what it was: light In actuality, a painting the size of the and shadow in the dark. large projection would be difficult for her to realize with the same intensity and focused, dense brushwork. The projected surrogate possesses greater drama and clarity than the small original source, and, curiously, it can reveal more about the nature of the object itself—the tooth and weave of the canvas, the texture of the brushstrokes. A counterintuitive truth emerges: the duplicate commands more authority, more authenticity than the original. J A M E S R O N D E A U F R A N C E S A N D T H O M A S C O N T E M P O R A R Y DITTMER C U R A T O R OF A R T N O T E S I. A different gallery (hen o c c u p i e d [he l o c a t i o n . I. C e c i l i a Edefalk. q u o t e d i n Ctclw Edrfalk. exh. cat. ( K u n s t h a l l c B e r n / S t o c k h o l m : M o d e r n a M u s e c t . 1999). p. S\. \. S o l L e W i n , "Sentences o n C o n c e p t u a l A r t . " repr. i n . W Z r U ' V n . cd. A l i c i a Legg. exh. cat. ( N e w Y o r k : M u s e u m o f M o d e r n A r t . 1978). p . 168. 4. T h e Chelsea A m C l u b , located at 141 O l d C h u r c h Street. L o n d o n , was established o n M a r c h II. 1891. Its m e m b e r s h i p has histoncallv i n c l u d e d artists, writers, photographers, a n d filmmakers. 5. D a n i e l R i r n b a u m . i n Painiingai rJ't EJgl of iht U'ór¿¿ ed. D o u g l a s Fogle. exh. cat. ( M i n n e a p o l i s : W a l k e r A r t C e n t e r . l o o t ) , p . 80. 6. F.defalk. e-mail to James R o n d e a u . 9 Ian. 1006. into a very beautiful old-fashioned garden with lilies and roses and other flowers, surrounded by a white plastered wall. A s we stood on the lawn admiring the garden, I heard a sharp sound and a saw a silhouette illuminated by a flash of bluish white light in a corner close to us. The silhouette seemed familiar—like something I had seen before, perhaps in a drawing or a painting. Turning to my friend in surprise, I asked, "What was that?" He looked at me, bewildered, and said, "I didn't see anything. Whatever it was, it was meant only for you." I was surprised but felt strangely content, fulfilled. In the morning, I went out into the garden, to the spot where I had experienced the light. There was a sculpture of Venus in a grotto of figs; a small cymbal hung from a branch over her left shoulder. At first, I was disappointed—the silhouette I had seen the night before did not resemble the statue. I took a blackand-white photograph. That picture is the basis for the paintings in this exhibition. 1 CECILIA 1988 2000 EDEFALK Galleri Wallner, M a l m o Elevator, M a l m o K o n s t m u s e u m , Sweden B o r n Norrkσping, Sweden, 1954 Studied at Konstfack University 1999 SELECTED M o d e r n a Museet, Stockholm; College o f A r t s , Crafts and Design, Kunsthalle Bern (cat. w i t h essays S t o c k h o l m , 1973-77; R o y a l A c a d e m y by Jean-Christophe A m m a n n , o f A r t , S t o c k h o l m , 1981-86 Lives and works i n S t o c k h o l m 2005 Daniel B i r n b a u m , Bernhard New Swedish Photography, Fibicher, and Cecilia W i d e n h e i m ) Hasselblad Center, Gτteborg, Sweden The Be Girl 1ASPIS, Stockholm SELECTED ONE-PERSON 2004 1998 Art Camp, M o u n t a i n s Eye, At the Moment Untitled, Galerie EXHIBITIONS Unduur Ulaan U u l , Mongolia Johnen and Schτttle, Cologne 2005 Joint Exhibition, 1997 Budbarare, Lunds D o m k y r k a , L u n d , Sweden Nya verk, Norrkσpings Stene, S t o c k h o l m 2004 Sketch for a Painting, and Stene Brβndstrom Zanabazar Perspektive, Kabinett f٧r Aktuelle M u s e u m o f Fine Arts, Ulaanbaatar, Kunst, Bremerhaven, G e r m a n y Mongolia 1996 Falskt och akta, N a t i o n a l m u s e u m , In the Painting the Konstmuseum, Norrkoping Ich bin tot, Brβndstrom and GROUP EXHIBITIONS Painting, S t o c k h o l m (cat.) Galerie Johnen and Schottle 2002 Echo, Kiinsderhaus Bethanien, Berlin 2001 1994 Documenta II, Kassel (cat.) 1990 Mirror's Edge, Tramway, Glasgow; En annan rσrelse/Another Movement, Galleri Sten Eriksson, Stockholm Castello d i R i v o l i , T u r i n ; Vancouver A r t Gallery; Bildmuseet, 4 5 Pittura, Castello di Rivara, Turin (cat.) Umeβ, Sweden (cat. w i t h essay by O k w u i Enwezor) SzenenwechselXVIII, Views from Abroad: M u s e u m Kir 1993 Inspect 93, Frankfurter Kunstverein; European Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt (cat.) Perspectives on American Art 2, Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am M a i n W h i t n e v M u s e u m of American A r t , 2000 1992 Expo Ç2, Swedish Pavilion, N e w York (cat.) Szenenwechsel XVII, M u s e u m Kir 1996 M o d e r n e Kunst 1998 Se hur det kannsllSee What It Feels Cecilia Edefalk/Jan Like!, Rooseum, M a l m τ {cat. w i t h Irish M u s e u m oν M o d e r n A r t , Les annιes ηo, Musιe d'Art Moderne Szenenwechsel VIII, M u s e u m fur de la V i l l e de Paris (cat.) 1991 Like med. M o d e r n a Museet (cat.) M o d e r n e Kunst M u s e u m f٧r 1995 Stillstand switches, Shedhalle, Z u r i c h (cat.) Das Ahenteuer der Malerei, M o d e r n e Kunst 1997 Hβfstrom, D u b l i n (cat.) essay by Jean-Christophe A m m a n n ) Nuit blanche: Scenes nordiques; SzenenwechselXII, Seville (cat.) Wiirttembergischer Kunstverein, 1989 Display, Charlottenborg Stuttgart; Kunstverein f٧r die Aurora $, A t e n e u m i n Taidemuseo, Udstillingsbygning, Copenhagen Rheinlande u n d Westfalen, Helsinki (cat.) Dusseldorf (cat.) Deposition: Contemporary Revir/Territory, Swedish Venice (cat.) Szenenwechsel XI, M u s e u m f٧r M o d e r n e Kunst Kulturhuset, S t o c k h o l m (cat.) Art in Venice, C i n e m a Arsenalc, 1994 XXII Bienal de Sβo Paulo (cat.) 6 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION Bader, Joerg. Artpress, no. 242 (Jan. A l l works courtesy the artist and 9 Double White Venus, 2004 240 x 175 c m ; tempera, acrylic, Birnbaum, Daniel. "Late Arrivals," in Painting at the Edge of the World, I 0 Double White Venus, 2005 1 Double White Venus, 2000 22 x 16 c m ; o i l o n canvas ed. Douglas Fogle. Minneapolis: Walker A n Center, 2001, pp. 78-92. 2 Double White Venus, 2000 . "Slow M o t i o n : Daniel B i r n b a u m 22 x 16 c m ; o i l o n canvas on Cecilia Edefalk." Frieze, no. 29 (July/Aug. 1996), pp. 50-51. 3 Double White Venus, 2003 22 x 16 c m ; o i l o n canvas G o h l k e , Gerrit. " T h e M a i n Character Behind the M i r r o r s . " Paletten, no. 4 Double White Venus, 2004 228 (Jan. 1997), pp. 43-48. 135 x 95 c m ; tempera o n linen Lofdahl, Eva, and Cecilia Edefalk. " A M i r r o r e d Interview between E Double White Venus, 2004 198 x 155 c m ; tempera o n linen Eva Lofdahl and Cecilia Edefalk." Siksi, no. 3 (1990), pp. 16-19. Sandqvist. G e r t r u d . "Das Abenteuer der Malerei." Siksi, plastic, and marker o n linen Brandstrom and Stene, S t o c k h o l m 1999). PP- 78-79- 11 Double White Venus, 2004 240 x 175 c m ; tempera on linen no. 2 (1995), pp. 44-45Van der Heeg. Eric. "Feel the Difference." Nu, no. 2 (1999). pp. 74"79- 7 Double White Venus, 2004 240 x 175 c m ; tempera o n linen 8 Double White Venus, 2004 240 x 175 c m ; tempera o n linen T w o canvases, each 175 x 240 c m ; tempera o n linen I I Double White Venus, 2005 22 x 16 c m ; o i l and tempera o n linen 1 2 Double White Venus, 2006 22 x 16 c m ; o i l and tempera on linen 7 11 T H A N K S OPENING EVENTS AND Nick. Barron, Andreas Brandstrom, Mickey ARTIST TALK Dawn Koster, [canne Ladd. Kerstin Lane, Chai Lee. Maria Lind, Kristin Lister, Alfred L. McDougal and Nancy Lauter McDougal, THURSDAY 2 FEBRUARY Dorothv Schroeder, Jan Stene, Elizabeth Stepina, Jim Szvskowski, Peter Wahlqvist, and Jeft Wonderland. JER 12:00 p.m. Exhibition curator James Rondeau EXHIBITION PREVIEW Gallery 100 5:30-8:00 p.m. FRIDAY 3 M A R C H Gallery 139 Whitney Mueller, Barbro Osher, Iherese Peskowits, Elise Peters, Katie Reilly, Rae Rirrel, TALKS FRIDAY 17 F E B R U A R Y Cartin, James Cuno, Lisa Dorin, Edward Gallagher, Sarah Guernsey, Maria Hákanson, GALLERY 12:00 p.m. OPENING RECEPTION Exhibition coordinator Whitney Moeller 5:30-8:00 p.m. Gallery 100 Mary L . and Leigh B. Block Photography Study Room, TUESDAY Department of Photography 12:00 p.m. 11 A P R I L Assistant curator Lisa Dorin ARTIST The artist wishes to thank her friends for their support, particularly Dennis Nvman and Carl-Henrik Tillberg. Front and back covers: Cecilia Edefalk's studio, Stockholm. All photographs courtesv Carl-Henrik Tillberg. TALK Gallery 100 6:00 p.m. Morton Auditorium This exhibition is organized by The Art Institute of Chicago with major support from Mickey Cartin. Additional funding is provided by IASPIS International Artists' Studio Program in S w e d e n ; The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation; Swedish Council of America; The American-Scandinavian Foundation; Embassy of S w e d e n , Washington, D.C.; Consulate General of S w e d e n in Chicago; and The S w e d i s h American M u s e u m Center, Chicago. ¡T) A S P I S O n g o i n g support for focus exhibitions is provided by The Alfred L. McDougal and Nancy Lauter M c D o u g a l Fund for Contemporary Art.