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Art

Regen Projects is pleased to announce an exhibition by renowned artist Anish Kapoor. Since the 1980s Kapoor’s ambitious practice has continuously expanded the limits of sculptural form by investigating scale, volume, color, and materiality. With this exhibition, the artist’s sixth solo presentation following his gallery debut in 1992, Kapoor brings together a selection of new mirror works that challenge optical perception and phenomenological experience through experiments in shape and form.

The cornerstone of the exhibition is a monumental stainless-steel Double S-Curve. Expanding upon a singular work originally exhibited at Regen Projects in 2006, the sculpture’s alternating concave and convex structure snakes through the center of the gallery. Simultaneously appearing both solid and liquid, its highly polished mirrored surfaces refract and reflect its surroundings, creating an illusory sense of reality that confounds one’s relationship to the space.

A new series of wall-mounted mirrors subtly shift in shape between convex and concave. Hovering at eye level each sculpture projects various geometric shapes of acute triangles, circles and rectangles, that playfully tease the viewer’s optical perception and force them to re-examine their phenomenological experience. In his landmark essay on Kapoor’s work “Making Emptiness,” Homi K. Bhaba writes, “The tactile experience of transition is caught in the virtual space in between the double mirrors. The perspectival distance between subject and object, or the mimetic balance between the mirror and its reflection, are replaced by a movement of erasure and inversion – ‘reverse, affirm, negate.’ It is as if the possibility of pictoriality or image-making, associated with visual pleasure, has been unsettled to reveal emptiness, darkness, blankness, the blind spot. However, the purpose of Kapoor’s work is not to represent the mediation of light and darkness, or negative and positive space, in a dialectical relationship in which emptiness will travel through the darkening mirror to assume the plenitude of presence. Kapoor stays with the state of transitionality, allowing it the time and space to develop its own affects – anxiety, unease, restlessness – so that viewing it becomes part of the process of making the work itself. The spectator’s relation to the object involves a process of questioning the underlying conditions through which the work becomes a visual experience in the first place: how can the conceptual be visible? How can the perceptual void be spoken?”

Anish Kapoor was born in Mumbai, India in 1954 and lives and works in London.

Kapoor’s work has been the subject of numerous exhibitions worldwide. In 2019 he became the second contemporary artist to install their work in Beijing’s Forbidden City. The exhibition was presented at the Imperial Ancestral Temple and coincided with a survey at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Additional recent solo exhibitions include CorpArtes, Santiago (2019); Pitzhanger Manor and Gallery, London (2019); Serralves Museum, Porto (2018); Parque de la Memoria, Buenos Aires (2017); MAST Foundation, Bologna (2017); Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC), Mexico City (2016); Couvent de la Tourette, Eveux, France (2015); Château de Versailles (2015); The Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, Moscow (2015);  Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin (2013); and the Royal Academy, London (2009).

He has been the recipient of numerous international awards, including a Premio Duemila for his representation of Britain at the 44th Venice Biennale (1990), a Turner Prize (1991), a CBE (2003), Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2011), a Padma Bhushan (2012), and a Knighthood (2013) for services to visual arts.

– for more information on additional images from this event please contact EMS at [email protected] or Instagram at @ericminhswenson

Naama Tsabar: Inversions

Shulamit Nazarian is pleased to present Inversions, and exhibition of new sculptures by Israeli-born, New York based artist Naama Tsabar. This will be the artist’s first solo exhibition in California.

Naama Tsabar has become known for her ambitious installations, performances, and sculptures that parse the boundaries of spaces that surround us—both physical and metaphorical—for which we normally have no access. Cutting into walls and treating hidden interiors as sculptural and musical spaces, Tsabar considers the venues themselves as structures of power, enabling a display of fantasy, sexuality, and bravado. Tsabar upends the implicit gender roles and coded behavior of music and its related subcultures.

The exhibition title, Inversions, refers to a new body of work that is installed directly into the existing architecture of the gallery. Utilizing the shallow space behind the gallery’s walls, Inversion #1 and Inversion #2 assumes an overlooked space as a site of importance or a platform for action. Fusing together elements from guitars, harps, banjos, and violins, Tsabar creates an inverted instrument that relies on the contortions and penetrations of participants’ bodies for its activation. Inversion #2 includes a singing chamber, with holes and voids in the architecture for the voices of performers to fill.

Amplifying the sounds made on the Inversion works, Tsabar will present new pieces from her ongoing Transition series. In this body of work, the artist exposes the wires, knobs, and connectors from pre-existing guitar amplifiers to function as the palate for what she refers to as “sculptural paintings that have the ability to output sound”. Unlike previous works within this series, Tsabar has replaced the canvas substrate with fabric grills of commercial amplifiers.

These Transition works can be connected to an instrument or other sound-emitting device, which expands the visual experience of the piece into a sonic one. For this exhibition, Inversion #1 and Inversion #2 have each been connected to a Transition work, amplifying the actions that take place inside the gallery walls.

Also included in the exhibition are new variations from the artist’s ongoing Works on Felt series. At first viewing these wall sculptures made of felt, carbon fiber, epoxy, a guitar tuner and a single piano string exist as austere objects, artworks that nod to the sculptures of Robert Morris or to the shapes of Ellsworth Kelly. Once touched, Tsabar’s Works on Felt cross the threshold into instrument; the strumming of the piano string or the beating of the felt is amplified by a contact microphone and outputted by an amplifier.

Like many of the artist’s pieces, Works on Felt both subvert a power structure and simultaneously reveal the unseen. In this case, historic male minimalism – known for its anti-expressionistic authority – is imbued with the participant’s musical expression and physical body on the felt: a material that is usually used to damper and absorb sound. Whereas minimalist ethics abide to a ‘what-you-see-is-what-you-get’ notion of literalizing either the object in the room or the paint on the surface, Tsabar departs from that idea of ‘transparency’. Concealing the carbon fiber, the artist manipulates the felt material to uphold the tension of the piano wire, while still making the felt appear materially unaffected. The work’s ability to be played like an instrument further highlights the gallery space as an active structure rather than a neutral background.

Furthering her architectural interventions, a new work titled Dedicated, Shulamit Nazarian will take form as a collaboration between the artist and the gallery’s founder. Dedicated, Shulamit Nazarian is a diptych that exists as both an addition, and subtraction, within the gallery architecture. Tsabar has invited the gallery founder to give her a list comprised of female-identifying and gender-nonconforming artists that have been influential to her. Tsabar will then transcribe the list directly onto the gallery wall, after which will be cut out from the architecture, framed, and hung inside the gallery -leaving the remaining hole exposed throughout the exhibition. Through this work, Tsabar asks to expose the unseen structure around us, while reversing the gendered hierarchy; the artist evokes a chain of feminist dedications through the very platform of display and real estate.

Through her architectural interventions and the transformation of sculptures – or entire spaces – into instruments, Tsabar questions complicitness and performance within power structures. Suggesting new feminist solutions, Tsabar continues to consider the role of both intimacy and destruction as an antidote to oppressive, and often unseen forces.

On February 11 and 12, Naama Tsabar, along with Nicki Chen-Walters, Diana Diaz, FIELDED, Kristin Mueller, and Sarah Strauss performed on the sculptures in Inversions, in which every work in the show was activated simultaneously.

On February 13, 14, and 15, Naama Tsabar and Kristin Mueller performed (Untitled) Double Face six times over the course of three days on the backlot of Frieze Los Angeles at Paramount Pictures Studios, as part of Frieze Projects curated by Rita Gonzales and Pilar Tompkins.

Untitled (Double Face) is a sculpture comprised of two guitars that have been fused together to form a single instrument. Sharing a back, the chromed-plated form is conjoined in a way that requires a mutual negotiation between the two performers, moving in unison and in tension.

 – for more information on additional images from this event please contact EMS at [email protected] or Instagram at @ericminhswenson

Frieze is a media and events company that comprises three publications, frieze magazine, Frieze Masters Magazine and Frieze Week; and four international art fairs, Frieze London, Frieze LA, Frieze New York and Frieze Masters; a programme of courses and talks at Frieze Academy, and frieze.com – the definitive resource for contemporary art and culture.

History
Frieze was founded in 1991 by Amanda Sharp, Matthew Slotover and Tom Gidley with the launch of frieze magazine, a leading magazine of contemporary art and culture. Sharp and Slotover established Frieze London in 2003, one of the world’s most influential contemporary art fairs which takes place each October in The Regent’s Park, London. In 2012, Frieze launched Frieze New York taking place in May; and Frieze Masters, which coincides with Frieze London in October and is dedicated to art from ancient to modern. In 2019, Frieze opened its first edition in Los Angeles at Paramount Pictures Studios, taking place in Februrary.

– for more information on additional images from this event please contact EMS at [email protected] or Instagram at @ericminhswenson

UNTITLED, ART is an international, curated art fair founded in 2012 that focuses on curatorial balance and integrity across all disciplines of contemporary art. UNTITLED, ART innovates the standard fair model by selecting a curatorial team to identify and curate a selection of galleries, artist-run exhibition spaces, and non-profit institutions and organizations, in dialogue with an architecturally designed venue. The next edition of UNTITLED, ART San Francisco will take place January 17 – 19, 2020 at Pier 35, 1454 The Embarcadero.

Jeffrey Lawson is the Founder and owner of Art Fairs Unlimited, LLC, UNTITLED, ART and ELEMENTS Global Trade Show, LLC. Lawson has produced and consulted on large-scale trade shows globally for the past 12 years. In 2010, Lawson founded Elements Showcase. In 2012, he established UNTITLED, ART which launched in December 2012 on the sands of Miami Beach at Ocean Drive and 12th Street, and debuted on the West Coast in San Francisco in January 2017.

In July 2017 UNTITLED, ART appointed Manuela Mozo as Director to lead the international development of UNTITLED, ART and oversee the curatorial and strategic vision of the fairs in Miami and San Francisco. Manuela Mozo was a partner at Simon Lee Gallery from 2013, where she established the gallery’s office in New York. Prior to this, Manuela was a Director at Metro Pictures and Skarstedt Gallery, both in New York. Manuela holds a Masters in Contemporary Art Theory and Cultural Studies from New York University and currently sits on the advisory board of RxArt.

– for more information on additional images from this event please contact EMS at [email protected] or Instagram at @ericminhswenson

Celebrating today’s most significant creatives and leading contributors to the worlds of design and visual arts, the fair assembles 48 leading international galleries; prominent 20th-century and contemporary design dealers; a weekend of exciting programs; and 21POP, a special installation created by Stanlee Gatti.

FOG has become a focal point for the design and arts communities on the West Coast and further afield. The fair is synonymous with a uniquely pioneering spirit due to its bold hybrid approach and intimate presentation of art and design, dynamic programming on-site and its community-led mission to champion art and design in its historic Fort Mason setting. Building on FOG’s longstanding commitment to cultural institutions, the fair’s Preview Gala is honored to continue its crucial support of SFMOMA’s exhibitions and education programs. FOG represents a key moment in which the local and global community congregate to engage in critical dialogue, artistic exchanges, and a shared passion for creative pursuits.

– for more information on additional images from this event please contact EMS at [email protected] or Instagram at @ericminhswenson

Parrasch Heijnen is pleased to present Peter Alexander, a correlative selection of the artist’s recent sculpture and wall relief work in conversation with his sea and landscape paintings dating from 1990 – 2019. Alexander’s attention to the energies and forces of light and color discerned through observations of atmosphere and water are defining concentrations of this artist’s six-decade practice.

The core of Alexander’s work has consistently remained focused upon a devoted engagement with light in structural space, evoking the emotive sublime in an opulent exploration of color. Whether looking through paint or resin, depth emerges from thin layers and suspended pigments. The artist’s textural play loosely defines focus and horizon lines, often confusing the viewer’s physical orientation. This brilliance permeates through the work’s precise turns bending light by way of tinted gradations. Alexander’s forms transmit luminous energy in relation to their adjacent negative space, with illusionistic light bursting forth from beneath.

Informed by his architectural background (the artist began his career working as an illustrator for architect Richard Neutra), Alexander perceives the atmosphere around him as an all-encompassing entity. Encouraging his paint in swift motions to naturally settle, he mirrors the unpredictability of celestial phenomena and seduces the viewer into a hypersensitive state inciting a spectrum of emotive visual perceptions. The artist’s translucent urethane objects envelop the viewer in secluded interiors, consciously engaging with surroundings through various monochromatic hues, echoing a sense of cosmic awareness. Both mediums inform the other, quietly interacting with the senses and capturing the passage of time.

Peter Alexander (b.1939, Los Angeles, CA) has been widely exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide since the mid-1960s. Alexander is the recipient of multiple honors and awards including a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in 1980 and the California Art Award in 2014. In 1999, the Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA mounted a retrospective exhibition In this Light inclusive of painting and sculpture. His work resides in the permanent collections of numerous institutions including: the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; and The Getty Museum, Malibu, CA.

Peter Alexander will be on view at Parrasch Heijnen Gallery, 1326 S. Boyle Avenue, Los Angeles, from January 7 – February 1, 2020, with an opening reception taking place on Sunday January 5, from 1-3 pm. For more information, please contact the gallery at +1 (323) 943-9373 or [email protected]

– for more information on additional images from this event please contact EMS at [email protected] or Instagram at @ericminhswenson

Legends of Speed is the first major exhibition of racing cars presented at Phoenix Art Museum. Open now through March 15, the landmark exhibition features more than 20 legendary cars by Maserati, Mercedes, Alfa Romeo, Ford, and more, an unprecedented collection of cars driven by some of the greatest drivers in the history of racing, including A.J. Foyt, Dan Gurney, and Stirling Moss.

Featured cars have won many of the world’s most iconic races, including Le Mans, the Indianapolis 500, and the Italian Grand Prix, and were loaned to the Museum by internationally recognized collectors from Arizona and across the United States. Legends of Speed offers an unparalleled opportunity for Museum guests to experience and learn about some of the most successful and famous racecars of all time.

– for more information on additional images from this event please contact EMS at [email protected] or Instagram at @ericminhswenson

“The Fahey/Klein Gallery is proud to present Volume 3, a solo exhibition of works by renowned photographer Frank Ockenfels. This exhibition is a celebration of Frank Ockenfels 3’s long career and an analysis into his personal collaged journals, featured in his first publication Frank Ockenfels 3, Volume 3.

The works of Frank Ockenfels 3, on view in this exhibition, provide a window into his visual thinking. Subjected to ink, collage, or paint, the images are no longer just photographs of an individual, but become a more personal statement of who the artist is, of his psyche, and as such, creative artistry in its purest form. The erotic, the sublime, and the violent collages are blended with portraiture that seamlessly complement each other. The photographic creations become tactile, bringing another dimension of sensory experience. His photographs are a “re-presentation” of what he saw through the lens.

Frank Ockenfels 3 is propelled by a drive and curiosity to discover an image that is not yet known. Simultaneously, he creates a visual language that speaks from the most primal and dark corners of his mind. He produces waking dreams, images that represent the darkest, least-illuminated aspects of his unconscious – projected on the individual he has photographed. He has the courage to go way beyond the expected and the obvious; breaking the boundaries of traditional photography.

Frank Ockenfels 3 does not play it safe, and as a result, he is very effective at evoking from the viewer aspects of their own psyche of which they may or may not be aware. One cannot help but feel a resonance with the chaotic vibrancy of his creativity. He leaves the imprint of his unconscious on the photographic image.

Frank Ockenfels 3 is an American photographer, artist, and director. He is renowned for his portraiture and incorporating non-photographic elements in his work. Ockenfels applies techniques like collage, painting, and drawing to his photographs. His career began working for magazines such as Rolling Stone, Spin, Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, and Vogue. He photographed over 200 album covers for various musicians.” – per website

– for more information on additional images from this event please contact EMS at [email protected] or Instagram at @ericminhswenson

“Until the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the Japanese language did not have a word for fine art. The word bijutsu was constructed, combining Chinese characters bi, for beauty, and jutsu, for craft. This hybrid term reveals the unique trajectory of Japanese contemporary art, different from the foundations of contemporary art in the West.

Tokyo Pop Underground, curated by Tokyo gallerist Shinji Nanzuka, explores the complex history of Japanese contemporary art from the 1960s to the present through the works of seventeen artists who emerged from pop and underground culture.

Shinji Nanzuka explains that “originally in Japan, most of what is referred to as art are practical items, developed together and in integration with popular culture.” He cites examples from calligraphy to folding screens, paintings on sliding paper doors, lacquerware, netsuke, and the Ukiyo-e prints that served as posters and commercial portraits. He also mentions art historian Naoyuki Kinoshita’s study of intricately realistic handicrafts such as iki-ningyou, life-like dolls that were made for exhibitory performances. Nanzuka’s mission in this exhibition is to present contemporary artistic commentaries on this Japanese artistic heritage.” – per website

– for more information on additional images from this event please contact EMS at [email protected] or Instagram at @ericminhswenson

“Founded in 1931, the Nevada Museum of Art (the Museum) is the only art museum in Nevada accredited by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM).

Co-founded in 1931 by Dr. James Church, an early climate scientist, humanist, and lover of art, the Museum in its early days was run by a small group of outdoor landscape painters. As a result, the Museum has long understood the importance of examining how humans interact with their natural, built, and virtual surroundings. Designed by internationally renowned architect Will Bruder, the present Museum facility opened in 2003 at the heart of Reno’s downtown Liberty district. The four-level, 70,000-square-foot building is inspired by geological formations in northern Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, and serves as a visual metaphor for the institution’s scholarly focus on art and environment.

The institution’s identity continues to be shaped by the geographic location and environment. The Museum’s proximity to the San Francisco Bay Area, the Sierra Nevada, Lake Tahoe, and the surrounding Great Basin desert region places it at the nexus of both awe-inspiring scenery and a rapidly changing landscape. It is an ideal place for dynamic conversations about the ways that humans creatively interact with environments. This idea is reflected in the Museum’s permanent collection, which is divided into four thematic focus areas: the Robert S. and Dorothy J. Keyser Art of the Greater West Collection, the Carol Franc Buck Altered Landscape Photography Collection, the Contemporary Art Collection, and the E. L. Wiegand Work Ethic in American Art Collection.” – per website

– for more information on additional images from this event please contact EMS at [email protected] or Instagram at @ericminhswenson

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