After moving to New York from her native Hungary in the early 1990s, Rita Ackermann first attracted attention for her drawings depicting young female figures representing the total freedom of living outside the rules and constraints of society. This survey exhibition examines the artist's paintings throughout her career and the changes in her work that occurred through her immersion into Western culture. One of the few contemporary artists to discuss her work in terms of "style" rather than practice, Ackermann has forged a new visual language in painting, drawing and collages, which ranges from psychologically intense expressionism to colorfield abstraction. The exhibition is organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami and is curated by MOCA Executive Director and Chief Curator Bonnie Clearwater. A major monograph published by Rizzoli with essays by Clearwater, Harmony Korine, John Kelsey, Felix Ensslin and Josh Smith will accompany the exhibition.
Ragnar Kjartansson: Song is the first solo US museum exhibition of the work of Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson. A musician as well as artist, Kjartansson (b. 1976) has been drawn to the theater and performance since he formed a band in his teenage years. The exhibition includes a selection of video works from the last decade. Kjartansson's videos reflect an interest in music and theater and the personae of its performers, often coupled with extreme environments. The End (2008) features two musicians in a mountainous snowy landscape, while Satan is Real (2005) finds the naked artist buried to his chest in the lawn of a public park, playing a guitar.
In addition to his video work, Kjartansson has become known for inhabiting galleries and more unexpected locations where he performs live, often for extended periods. For the 2009 Venice Biennale, he painted portraits of his friend, every day for six months, in a crumbling palazzo on Venice's Grand Canal. Kjartansson's approach wavers between besotted optimism and deadpan, sometimes unnerving, directness. Ritual, repetition, and an almost hallucinogenic reverie share the stage with humor, levity, and a charismatic impulse to entertain. The exhibition is organized by Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh and is curated by Associate Curator Dan Byers.
MAY 24 - SEPTEMBER 2, 2012
Ed Ruscha, whose career spans five decades, is known for his use of langauge to document and comment on the shifting character of American culture. Ruscha drew inspiration from the classic American novel On the Road by Jack Kerouac in his own limited art book version of the novel, and has created a new body paintings, drawings, and photographs. The exhibition, organized by the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles is curated by Chief Curator Douglas Fogel. Included is Ruscha's artist's book, six large paintings, and 10 drawings, each taking their text from the novel. Just as Kerouac's words provide Ruschaa with new means to explore his archetypal landscapes, Ruscha's art adds new analysis to Kerouac's original and radical use of language.