Tobias Madison

Tobias Madison
Hydrate + Perform
Yes I Can! The Movie: Preview
March 8 – April 24, 2010

Opening Reception: Saturday, March 6, 2010
6 – 8 PM

495 Broadway 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10012
Tel 212-925-2035
Fax 212-925-2040
info@swissinstitute.net

www.swissinstitute.net

Tobias Madison’s (born 1985, lives and works in Basel) first US solo show is a newly commissioned project in two parts. Hydrate + Perform consists of large acrylic tanks, each filled with a different flavor of Vitamin Water. Other display cases frame synthetic plants, Pollock-ized with drips of paint. Large color prints of Compact Discs scanned and warped constitute wall panoramas. The various layers form a landscape unfolding different states of artificiality.

The second part of the exhibition entitled Yes I Can! The Movie: Preview pairs Madison’s notorious flag paintings with a short film shot in 2009. The road movie leading from Switzerland to Mongolia tracks the use of monuments and brutalist architecture on the way. The flags are embezzled from Radisson Hotels, their slogan Yes I Can! crudely appropriated.

Tobias Madison is co-founder of the artist-run space New Jerseyy and of Used Future publications, both based in Basel. Past group and solo exhibitions of include galerie du jour agnes b., Paris; Raster, Warsaw; Karma International, Zurich; Kunsthalle Basel; and Layr Wuestenhagen, Vienna.

With kind support of Abteilung Kultur Basel-Stadt, and Bildungs-, Kultur- und Sportdirektion Kanton Basel-Landschaft.

Lobby
Carissa Rodriguez is a New York based artist, writer and gallerist. Her work addresses questions regarding authorship, originality and collective production. Her intervention at SI examines the function of the SI lobby as a transitory space.

Reading Room
Andro Wekua (born in Georgia 1977, lives and works in Berlin) has been described as a master of suggestion. The SI Reading Room is proud to present a selection of Wekua’s books and editions, which have never been displayed together. A large variety of books accompanies his artistic production and include collaborations with Rita Ackermann, Boris Groys and Ketuta Alexi.

About Swiss Institute / Contemporary Art New York
Swiss Institute / Contemporary Art is a not-for-profit contemporary art gallery operating in New York City since 1986. As a truly international space for contemporary art, we occupy an ambitious, boundary-crossing role in NYC, fostering interaction between American, Swiss and European artists and audiences. Our institution works like a European Kunsthalle, presenting cutting-edge art within a forward-thinking intellectual framework. Because we have no collection and no responsibilities to the art market, all our energy goes towards the realization of artistic and curatorial projects. An additional vital part of our programming is an ambitious series of events creating crucial opportunities to weave contemporary art into the fabric of everyday life.