Christoph Broich shows at galerie Griesmar-Tamer in Paris the exhibition is still running until february 16th 40, rue de Richelieu 75001 Paris (metro Palais Royal - Louvre)
galerie Griesmar Tamer in the house of Molière
contibution of Christoph Broich to the Schopenhauer quotes
TAATTII . THE APPEARANCE AND THE THING ITSELF envoy visits Griesmar&Tamer 10 January 2008 - 16 Fenruary 2008 . Tue thru Sat 11-6
Envoy is happy to announce its visit to Griesmar&Tamer gallery, with a group show and five solo exhibitions that are curated around the theme of the appearance and the thing in itself.
TAATTII is the abbreviation for “The Appearance And The Thing In Itself.” It is a playful reference to TATI, Schopenhauer's comments on Kant's philosophy and the way art (the thing in itself) is interpreted (appearance). "As it appears" and "In itself" are two ways of looking at "art." In six rooms, a play on the appearance and the thing itself is played out.
In the first room , named Arthur, each artist represented by envoy, is presented with a piece that was created in response to one of five provided quotes by Arthur Schopenhauer. The second room Darling Companion presents sister exhibitions by James J. Williams III, What Does Darling Mean to Your? and As They Appear Upon Dissection. The works in Darling are studies in relationship power struggles, sadism, healing through bleeding, loving, fucking, and losing our everything. Dissection is the addendum to Darling. It is mourning. It is clear and concise and gilded and black and empties itself as sacrifice to something or someone bigger. In Rafi, the third room, Raphaël Neal skillfully introduces the uncanny—whether it is an unexpected criminality or a haunting presence—into the mundane everyday and its subtly shifting perspectives. It‘s a direct account of youthful lives unfolding against a rugged landscape in which a strange tenderness is being omitted. Neal is a subtle observer of the ebb and flow of desire and its influence on the sexual dynamics flowing between people. The fourth room, named Nothing, contains Michael Yinger’s installation "all I know is that I don't know nothin’,” a personalized map of the United States, a summary of everything in one that is about all the trials and tribulations, intense over-analyzing and complete inventory of a persons core being. The work of Donatien Veismann occupies the fifth room, named Tomato-Ketchup Emperor. The name of the room refers to the 1970 Shuji Terayama movie "Emperor Tomato-Ketchup," in which children take over the power and turn the world into a huge dictatorship. It also refers to the artist’s obsession with Ronald McDonald, the Ketchup clown who, in the artist’s opinion, crystallizes many things: both ideal and scary he is a modern icon, a philosopher with a spider smile ,the symbol of consumption society, ... Voloptuous Panic is the sixth and last room. Inspired by Weimar bacchanalia, (the title is taken from Mel Gordon's book on Weimar Berlin,) Christoph Broich‘s curious manipulated, sculpted elements populate a weirdly decadent environment. Suspended from the ceiling and spatially isolated through perspectival techniques, Broich’s skinned sculptures focus on deterioration and present the reversal of the natural process: skin and flesh decomposing first and the skeleton remaining.
Now that you have been fed the appearance, it is up to you to look at the things in itself.
TAATTII . THE APPEARANCE AND THE THING ITSELF envoy visits Griesmar&Tamer 10 January 2008 - 16 Fenruary 2008 . Tue thru Sat 11-6
Envoy is happy to announce its visit to Griesmar&Tamer gallery, with a group show and five solo exhibitions that are curated around the theme of the appearance and the thing in itself.
TAATTII is the abbreviation for “The Appearance And The Thing In Itself.” It is a playful reference to TATI, Schopenhauer's comments on Kant's philosophy and the way art (the thing in itself) is interpreted (appearance). "As it appears" and "In itself" are two ways of looking at "art." In six rooms, a play on the appearance and the thing itself is played out.
In the first room , named Arthur, each artist represented by envoy, is presented with a piece that was created in response to one of five provided quotes by Arthur Schopenhauer. The second room Darling Companion presents sister exhibitions by James J. Williams III, What Does Darling Mean to Your? and As They Appear Upon Dissection. The works in Darling are studies in relationship power struggles, sadism, healing through bleeding, loving, fucking, and losing our everything. Dissection is the addendum to Darling. It is mourning. It is clear and concise and gilded and black and empties itself as sacrifice to something or someone bigger. In Rafi, the third room, Raphaël Neal skillfully introduces the uncanny—whether it is an unexpected criminality or a haunting presence—into the mundane everyday and its subtly shifting perspectives. It‘s a direct account of youthful lives unfolding against a rugged landscape in which a strange tenderness is being omitted. Neal is a subtle observer of the ebb and flow of desire and its influence on the sexual dynamics flowing between people. The fourth room, named Nothing, contains Michael Yinger’s installation "all I know is that I don't know nothin’,” a personalized map of the United States, a summary of everything in one that is about all the trials and tribulations, intense over-analyzing and complete inventory of a persons core being. The work of Donatien Veismann occupies the fifth room, named Tomato-Ketchup Emperor. The name of the room refers to the 1970 Shuji Terayama movie "Emperor Tomato-Ketchup," in which children take over the power and turn the world into a huge dictatorship. It also refers to the artist’s obsession with Ronald McDonald, the Ketchup clown who, in the artist’s opinion, crystallizes many things: both ideal and scary he is a modern icon, a philosopher with a spider smile ,the symbol of consumption society, ... Voloptuous Panic is the sixth and last room. Inspired by Weimar bacchanalia, (the title is taken from Mel Gordon's book on Weimar Berlin,) Christoph Broich‘s curious manipulated, sculpted elements populate a weirdly decadent environment. Suspended from the ceiling and spatially isolated through perspectival techniques, Broich’s skinned sculptures focus on deterioration and present the reversal of the natural process: skin and flesh decomposing first and the skeleton remaining.
Now that you have been fed the appearance, it is up to you to look at the things in itself.
CHRISTOPH BROICH @ UNISEX As part of envoy's ongoing extra muros projects, Christoph Broich will have his Lara Wo Bist Du? performance at Unisex @ The Delancey (168 Delancey btw Clinton and Attorney) July 5th. RSVP is required at listlistlist@gmail.com.
Lara, wo bist du? (Lara where are you?) is an ongoing project by Christoph Broich, which started in 1993 and which will end once Lara has been found. Lara was the girl in a video piece Christoph Broich created in 1993. When the artist wanted to continue the series devoted to her, he was unable to locate her, and has since been unable to find her.
Lara, wo bist du? became an obsessive series of work in search of Lara. The series consists of five separate pieces: the actual video piece, a video still light box installation, an inter-active performance documented by polaroids and two sculptures.
For the performance piece, the audience is invited to put on a red wig, a replica of Lara’s hairdo. Much as the prince in Cinderella sliding the glass slipper on a number of women’s feet, Broich continues his quest for Lara by putting a wig on innocent bystanders. As with a lot of Broich’s work, the “shell” of the work remains, in this case polaroids, referencing “wanted” posters that intriguingly document the performance.
here you can find the pictures from the Lara event in Antwerp:
Over the past two years, Christoph Broich has received international attention with sculptural installations that have come to stand for a willful sensitivity to the body and mortality. His work is a manifestation of the complex and unquiet correlation between life and work, material and concept.
In his Kopf (Head) series, the artist successfully expands his visual vocabulary by creating a cohesive environment around a single element, the head. Cut up iconic items of clothing and fabric are collaged onto busts and then painted with several coats of latex. Upon completion, as with all of Broich’s meticulously made sculptures, the bust is destroyed and the shell (skin) is all that remains. Broich’s skinned sculptures focus on deterioration and present the reversal of the natural process: skin and flesh decomposing first and the skeleton remaining. Suspended from the ceiling, the heads create an eerie field of beheaded individuals.
Inspired by Weimar bacchanalia, his most recent work, Voluptuous Panic (the title is taken from Mel Gordon's book on Weimar Berlin), invites the viewer to become part of the action. Understanding the importance of absence as well as presence in the deployment of his sculpted elements within a real space, Broich proves to be a master at orchestration and placement.
Spatially isolated through perspectival techniques, curious manipulated, cast characters populate the weirdly decadent environment. The choice of mannequins, empty, non-threatening 'everyone' figures is deliberate, its effect one of alienation.
Choreographed single and multiple groups of characters, seated or lying on the counter of a bar or nightclub, are enmeshed in an emotional confrontation with an unspecified narrative. At one end of the counter, a protagonist’s Siamese body curves back in spontaneous recoil. Each posture and gesture suggesting urgency and concern, tension and empathy. At the other end, a figure leans forward, as if wanting to move out of the drama, but its inability to move seems to frustrate the desire to act. All of the characters in Voluptuous Panic sustain a bland look. They stare into emptiness as they lean on enigmatic moments frozen in space and time, a singular, inexplicable silent moment.
Christoph Broich was bornin Stadt Blankenberg, Germany. He graduated from The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium in 1994. The artist had his first exhibition at envoy with “Never Mind The Bollocks: Here’s Amanda Lear,” in April 2006. This is the artist’s first solo exhibition in New York. (text: Enoy)
Lara, wo bist du, a video and performance project that started in 1993 will be featured at Unisex Salon at the Delancey on July 5th. Check http://envoy.typepad.com/ for details.
envoy . 131 Chrystie Street . New York . NY 10002 . 212.226.4555 . www.envoygallery.com
The last three days of t(h)ree will be celebrated on April 12th from 6-8pm at envoy's Lower East Side location, with a special performance by Jay Brannan at 7.30pm
After parties are at Home Sweet Home (underneath the gallery at 131 Chrystie) from 8-10pm and at Unisex Salon at the Delancey (168 Delancey btw Clinton and Attorney) from 10-4am
Jay Brannan can be seen in the recently released "Shortbus" directed by John Cameron Mitchell. As a singer/songwriter he has performed at a variety of New York City venues including Joe's Pub, the Knitting Factory, Ars Nova, and Galapagos Art Space. In Fall 2005 he performed alongside such artists as Pink, Margaret Cho, Kelly Osbourne, and Alan Cumming at WedRock Los Angeles, a benefit for marriage equality. ENVOY lower east side East Village / Lower East Side 131 Chrystie Street 212-226-4555
here some images from 't(h)ree' at Envoy, lower east side, new york
(A project inspired by John Cameron Mitchell's "Shortbus")
crackerfarm
george duncan
"Shortbus, John Cameron Mitchell's penetrating look at the bruised sexuality of contemporary New Yorkers, lives on in this photography exhibit from Crackerfarm, George Duncan, and Paul Mpagi Sepuya (all part of the film's production team). Though Crackerfarm's intimate images of outsiders posing with "ordinary" citizens keeps close to the film's dual themes of outrageousness and universality, Sepuya's work best captures the Shortbus vision: He's built a treelike structure that reimagines the characters' interconnections as lovers, exes, and friends." — Elizabeth Cline & Michael Alan Connelly for nymag.com
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