Monica Bonvicini
Join SculptureCenter tomorrow, Thursday, January 25 at 7pm for two acclaimed exhibitions and an excellent lecture by scholar W.J.T. Mitchell. Monica Bonvicini’s Never Missing a Line and the newest installment of In Practice will be on view throughout the evening for the occasion.
Thursday, January 25, 7pm – W.J.T. Mitchell Presents
W.J.T. Mitchell is the author of What Do Pictures Want? The Lives and Loves of Images (2005). Editor of Critical Inquiry and a professor at the University of Chicago in the Departments of English Literature and Art History, Mitchell presents some of the concepts that inspired SculptureCenters upcoming group exhibition, The Happiness of Objects, opening April 29, 2007. This event is co-organized with the Visual Arts Division MFA Program at Columbia University.
Monica Bonvicini
Never Missing a Line
January 7 March 25, 2007
SculptureCenter is pleased to present Never Missing a Line, the first solo exhibition in a U.S. museum by internationally renowned artist Monica Bonvicini.
Bonvicini first gained international attention in the mid-nineties for works that aggressively addressed the gendered politics of architecture and the built environment. Informed by and furthering the feminist discourse, Bonvicinis work continues to interrogate the imprimatur of architecture, but has more recently focused on the fetishization of art and architecture as well as the tendency in both disciplines to fetishize materials. In its critique, the work simultaneously questions institutional motivations and the way in which the structures of art are determined and/or challenged by the social and physical parameters of the institution. Bonvicini utilizes language in much the same way she uses, or just as often mis-uses, industrial materials: to break open or reinforce the meaning generated by form.
Never Missing a Line is a concise exhibition featuring two text-based sculptures. The word Desire, cut from polished stainless steel and mounted on a billboard-like structure, greets visitors as they enter SculptureCenters courtyard. The cold, quiet space of the courtyard is almost overwhelmed by the sculptures sensual, but hard-edged reflective presence. Inside SculptureCenters large central hall, Built for Crime, a forty-foot long light sculpture, spells out the eponymous phrase. Constructed of shattered safety glass and light, Built for Crime performs like an advertisement. However, the phrase floats without a subject reference. What is built? And what crime is to be committed?
New In Practice Projects
Alex Arcadia, Fia Backström, Gardar Eide Einarsson, Amy ONeill, Lucy Raven, Garrett Ricciardi & Ross Cisneros, Karin Schneider, Karen Yasinsky
January 7 March 25, 2007
Commissioned through SculptureCenters In Practice program, artists present solo, site-specific installations ranging from interventions to film throughout SculptureCenters catacomb-like basement.
Upcoming Events at SculptureCenter
Sunday, February 11, 5pm – Beatriz Colomina Presents
Beatriz Colomina is an internationally acclaimed theorist, historian of architecture, and Director of the Program in Media and Modernity at Princeton University. Colomina presents her research X-Ray Architecture: Illness as Metaphor, and shares news of her recent publications.
Sunday, March 11, 3pm – Dan Graham and Bregtje van der Haak Present
Artist and theorist Dan Graham shares his insightful perspectives on architecture and invites documentary filmmaker Bregtje van der Haak to present a number of her films including Lagos Wide and Close (2005), recently presented at the São Paolo Bienniel. Hot soup and refreshments will be served.
About SculptureCenter
Founded by artists in 1928, SculptureCenter is a not-for-profit arts institution dedicated to experimental and innovative developments in contemporary sculpture. SculptureCenter commissions new work and presents exhibits by emerging and established, national and international artists. In 2001, SculptureCenter purchased a former trolley repair shop in Long Island City, Queens. This facility, designed by artist/designer Maya Lin, includes 6,000 square feet of interior exhibition space, offices, and outdoor exhibition space.
SculptureCenter . 44-19 Purves Street . Long Island City, NY. www.sculpture-center.org . (1) 718 361 1750
Directions
7 to 45th Road / Courthouse Square, E or V to 23rd / Ely, or G to Courthouse Square (note: the V train does not run on weekends). From all trains, walk north on Jackson Avenue one block past 44th Drive and turn right onto Purves Street.
SculptureCenter is five minutes from Midtown by subway.
For additional information please contact SculptureCenter: (1) 718.361.1750 or info@sculpture-center.org
Media contact: Katie Farrell, kfarrell@sculpture-center.org
