Painting … EXPANDED
Espacio 1414
1414 Fernandez Juncos Ave.
Santurce, PR 00909
Espacio 1414 is open Mon–Fri by appointment only.
T 787.725.3899
This season, Espacio 1414 is pleased to announce Painting … EXPANDED, curated by Marysol Nieves. With Works by Gabriel Orozco, Matthias Faldbakken, Reena Spaulings, Tal R, Gelitin, William J. O’Brien, Polly Apfelbaum, Shahzia Sikander, Tom Friedman, Yinka Shonibare, Pratchaya Phinthong, Guillermo Kuitca, Aaron Young, Alex Hubbard, Daniel J. Martinez, Emil Lukas, Glenn Ligon, Nari Ward, Michael D. Linares, Beatriz Milhazes, Tim Rollins & KOS, Ann Craven, Zak Prekop, Tauba Auerbach, Guyton/Walker, John Armleder, Amy Sillman, Allan MacCollum, Mario García Torres, Adrian Paci, Mark Bradford, Matthew Chambers, Peter Halley, Tony Just, Tom Burr, Friedrich Kunath, Helen Marten, Victoria Morton, Chemi Rosado Seijo, Enoc Pérez, Wade Guyton, Francesca DiMattio, José Lerma, Fabián Marcaccio, Sarah Morris, Christopher Wool, Josh Smith, Jonathan Meese, Ángel Otero, Rebecca Morris, Jacqueline Humphries and Allora&Calzadilla.From the advent of industrialization and the invention of photography in the mid-19th century to the more recent claims of its untimely demise, the supposed “death of panting” has remained a rich and complex trope within the discourse of modern and contemporary art. And, while painting has certainly been subject to a reappraisal during the last few decades as postmodern theory, conceptual and time-based art practices have challenged the primacy of painting and increasingly advocated for the dematerialization of the traditional art object, the tenets and practice of painting far from disappearing or being weakened by this realignment, have indeed emerged revitalized and re-imagined in the hand of many a creative practioner. Indeed as art critic Howard Halle so eloquently asserts, “Painting is a philosophical enterprise that doesn’t always involve paint.” [1] To that end, this exhibition explores the expanded field of painting through a wide range of works in a variety of media (i.e., installation, video, sculpture, and painting) that provide fertile territory for examining the legacy and meaning of painting and painterly practices in contemporary art today.
The exhibition is divided into four key sections—Painting as Readymade; Self Referentiality and Self Criticism; Space and Architecture; and Temporary or Un-heroic Painting. Collectively these artists posit painting as a question rather than a statement. Perhaps it is the inquisitive nature of their approach—seemingly unencumbered by the weight of history—that informs the dynamic spirit and heterogeneity of recent painting, thus ensuring its ongoing potency. Or perhaps it is what art historian Yve-Alain Bois refers to as the “difficult task of mourning” [2]—no longer in the pathological sense—but rather grounded in a genuine discourse about the “possibilities” of painting.
—Marysol Nieves | guest curator
Espacio 1414
[1] Howard Halle, “Photo-unrealism,” in Terry R. Myers, ed., Painting: Documents of Contemporary Art (London and Cambridge, MA: Whitechapel Gallery and The MIT Press, 2011), 132.
[2] Yve-Alain Bois, “Painting: The Task of Mourning” in Endgame: Reference and Simulation in Recent Painting and Sculpture, exhibition catalogue (Boston: Institute of Contemporary Art, 1986), 47.
*Image above:
Credit: Courtesy of the artist and The Berezdivin Collection.
