State of the Art

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Posts tagged with Whitney Biennale

The House of Illusion

July 13, 2013

Shradha Ramesh of Saffronart reports on the much talked about Dalston House

New York: Leandro Erlich’s (b 1973) installation at Dalston House defies all artistic and scientific laws. The Victorian style facade placed against a reflective surface creates a transcending delusional fantasy space. A unique space, where anyone who comes in contact with the work becomes a super hero with his/her supernatural abilities. Elrich has created a new visual language that traverses disciplines such as art, architecture and physics.

Elrich is known for his interplay of real life objects and surreal imaging. He takes familiar day to day objects and fuses them with illusionistic settings. Some of his works that embody allegorical references are Monte-Meubles, L’ultime Déménagement (2012) shown at Le Voyage à Nantes, France, which is a facsimile of Dalton House, Swimming Pool (1999) and Elevator Pitch (2011) shown at Sean Kelly Gallery, New York. He believes his artwork is complete only when the viewer interacts and experiences it.

My first interaction with the artist’s work was at Miami Art Basel Fair with his Single Cloud Collection (2012).

Monte Meubles, Leonardo Elrich

Monte Meubles, Leonardo Elrich. Image Credit: http://www.leandroerlich.com.ar/works.php?id=27

Argentinean by birth, the installation artist lives and works between Buenos Aires and Paris. His artistic journey started at home under the influence of his father who is an architect. However, Elrich draws inspiration from everywhere, including literary Argentinian forebear Jorge Luis Borges’s found objects and even the works of film directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, Roman Polanski, Luis Buñel and David Lynch.

Elrich is internationally acclaimed and has participated at both the Venice and Whitney biennales. His works have been exhibited in various global forums and even in private and public museums.

Swimming Pool, Leonardo Elrich

Swimming Pool, Leonardo Elrich. Image Credit: http://www.leandroerlich.com.ar/works.php?id=27

The Dalston House installation will be open to the public until August 4, 2013 courtesy of the Barbican Center, a multi-arts and conference venue in London.

‘Huma Bhabha: Unnatural Histories’ at MoMA PS1

March 24, 2013

Installation shot: Huma Bhabha: Unnatural Histories at MoMA PS1

Installation shot: Huma Bhabha: Unnatural Histories at MoMA PS1

Manjari Sihare recommends Huma Bhabha’s Unnatural Histories, currently on at MoMA PS1

New York: If you are in New York or surrounding areas, please visit Huma Bhabha’s (Pakistani, b. 1962) first solo exhibition at MoMA PS1. Titled “Unnatural Histories“, the show comprises nearly 30 sculptures and more than a dozen photo-based drawings including some new works, never seen before. The exhibition is on view on the 2nd floor of MoMA PS1 until April 1, 2013.

Bhabha, a New York based artist of Pakistani origin, is best known is known for her engagement with the human figure and for her use of found materials, working primarily in sculpture. Having exhibited her work since the early ‘90’s she was recently included in the 2012 Paris Triennial at Palais de Tokyo, Paris, and in the 2010 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City. Bhabha was included in a group exhibition of sculpture at City Hall Park in New York City organized by the Public Art Fund as well as a group exhibition focusing on intercultural dialog at the Stedelijk Museum Bureau, Amsterdam, both in 2010. She has also exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art and The New Museum, both in New York City, and was included in the 2008 Gwanju Biennial, South Korea. Her current solo exhibition at MoMA PS1 includes a sculpture that was first shown at MoMA PS1 in Greater New York 2005.

Huma Bhabha, Thot and Scribe, 2012, Mixed Media. Courtesy: The Artist and Salon 94. Image credit: MoMA PS1

Huma Bhabha, Thot and Scribe, 2012, Mixed Media. Courtesy: The Artist and Salon 94. Image credit: MoMA PS1

MoMA PS1 is one of the largest and oldest organizations in the United States devoted to contemporary art. Established in 1976 by Alanna Heiss, MoMA PS1 originated from the Institute for Art and Urban Resources, a not-for-profit organization founded five years prior with the mission of turning abandoned, underutilized buildings in New York City into artist studios and exhibition spaces. P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, as it was then known, became an affiliate of The Museum of Modern Art in 2000.

To learn more about the show and Bhabha, please read Karen Rosenberg’s review in the New York Times.

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