Lucas Samaras at the 53rd International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia

53rd International Art Exhibition
La Biennale di Venezia

Lucas Samaras
“Paraxena”
June 7 – November 22, 2009
Official Inauguration: June 4, 14:00

Commissioner: Hellenic Ministry of Culture
Curator: Matthew Higgs
General Coordinator: Vivian Efthimiopoulou
Coordinator: Elizabeth Sullivan
Organization: Hellenic Ministry of Culture Directorate of Visual Arts for the Promotion of Contemporary Art

www.paraxenavenice.gr

Curated by Matthew Higgs, Lucas Samaras will present the multi-installation “PARAXENA” in the Greek Pavilion in the Giardini della Biennale at the 53rd International Art Exhibition in Venice.
Matthew Higgs explains:

“PARAXENA” brings together three recent series of photographic and video works produced between 2005 and 2009, juxtaposed with a discrete group of sculptural works from the mid 1960s. ‘PARAXENA’ sets up a conversation across four decades of Lucas Samaras’ practice, establishing a historical context for the recent departures in his work.

Upon entering the pavilion the viewer will be confronted by an image of themselves, reflected in the mirrored sculpture ‘Doorway’ (1966-2007): a scenario that initiates a narrative that runs throughout ‘PARAXENA’, where the act of being observed and the activity of observing are central concerns.

Samaras will debut new photographic works from the ‘Nexus’ series alongside images from the recent ‘Chairs’ series (2008) and the ‘iMovie’ video works (2005.) The ‘Chairs’ and ‘Nexus’ series originate in digital images taken during the artist’s walks through New York City. Seen together the images suggest a kind-of hallucinatory urbanism. The ‘iMovie’ films take this sense of ‘strangeness’ into the artist’s domestic space, recording Samaras’ everyday habits and routines. These recent works will be shown alongside the video installation ‘Ecdysiast and Viewers’ (2006), in which Samaras filmed the reactions of twenty four friends and colleagues (including artists Chuck Close and Jasper Johns) whilst they watched a video self-portrait in which Samaras lays himself bare for the camera. The frank self-portrayal in ‘Ecdysiast’ is echoed in a group of sculptures from the ‘Jewels’ series of the mid 1960s: fragile jewel-encrusted aluminum foil sculptures which represent three extremities of the artist’s body: the head, the groin, and the feet, creating a form of ‘incomplete’ self-portraiture”.

For more information on “PARAXENA” and the Greek Pavilion in Venice, as well as high resolution visuals and installation pictures please, refer to www.paraxenavenice.gr

For media inquiries please contact:
Vivian Efthimiopoulou on +30 693 8356645 ; vefthi@gmail.com