Jeppe Hein
Distance
Bozidar Brazda
Eyeshadow
December 1, 2005 - March 10, 2006
LEFT: Jeppe Hein, Distance, (installation shot), at Ludwig Forum fur Internationale Kunst, Aachen. Photo Credit: Holger Hubsch, Courtesy of Johann Konig, Berlin. RIGHT: Bozidar Brazda, image courtesy of the Artist and Haswellediger and Co, New York.
DISTANCE, Jeppe Hein
Guest Curator: Christine Macel, curator for contemporary art in charge of the Department of Prospective and Contemporary Creation, Musée National dart moderne, the Centre Pompidou, Paris
EYESHADOW, Bozidar Brazda
Exhibition Dates: December 1, 2005-March 10, 2006
Opening reception for both exhibitions: Saturday, December 3, 2005. 9pm-midnight
DISTANCE/JEPPE HEIN
Configured as a rollercoaster, Distance, created in 2004, explores Jeppe Heins interest in art as a game. Consisting of a set of rails roughly 1,000 feet in length, Distance dips and rolls, continually switching back on itself in loops. As the viewer enters the exhibition space, he/she activates a sensor that shoots a large white ball along the rails along which it will roll through twists and turns in the gallery space. The viewer is able to follow the balls course by foot, tracing its movement across the gallery and at the same time, becoming an active participant in the installation. Hein revels in exploiting the deceptive potential of his work. His installations can best be described as interventions since they introduce disturbing elements into neutral art venues or public spaces that destabilize the art viewing habits of the gallery visitor. The pared-down geometrical objects in these installations obey the formal principles of minimal or conceptual art, but in keeping with Duchampian tradition, they become real works of art when the viewer innocently activates them. Heins objective is to establish an incongruous dialogue between the art and the viewer and to use humor to broaden the limits of conceptual art. This project was originally created for the Ludwig Forum, Aachen, Germany, and later it was presented at Dunkers Kulturhus in Helsingborg, Sweden. The Moore Space version is the largest presentation of this work so far and it is the first solo exhibition of the artists work in the United States.
Born in 1974 in Copenhagen, Jeppe Hein studied at the Royal Academy of Arts of Copenhagen and in the Hochschule für Bildende Künste of Frankfurt. He lives and works in Berlin. He had a solo exhibition at the Centre Pompidou, Paris in the Fall of 2005. In addition, Hein has shown at the Venice Biennial in 2003 and at PS1 in New York.
EYESHADOW/ BOZIDAR BRAZDA A group of disheveled teens spill in through a false front entrance. They are dressed in long, shapeless woolen knits (mostly in muted rainbow tones), worn jeans and muddy boots. Boys and girls (distinguishable only by the pitch of their voices) whisper in a language that the viewer decides is Danish (sub-titles may appear to those who choose to ingest the root * once it is ground up and added to cassis and wine). Nar vi finder hende, skal vi feste!” calls out a girl. Hvorfor vente? responds her friend. He steps into a separate room and inspects a large watercolor. He drags his finger across its frame and listens closely for the whir of some hidden black camera beneath the glass and drywall. Just then a small burst of applause is heard emanating from a room where a plaster actress is sleeping (is this their vanished actor or just some effigy?). Her blonde hair is up in a Crown braid and a gold chain hangs from her make-up mirror (this means more shrooms, pink pills, and maybe even a jammed-up Soviet era handgun if they decide to steal it!). Meanwhile, frantic music (Lost Kids? Sods? Kalashnikov?) pours out from the gallerys projection room. They flop to the floor in a pile and are positioned just so, handsomely as it were. Bottles of wine are passed around and militant mottos ring-out before each sip. A pulse of red/green light washes over them. And each one is now like the next, a colored shadow. etc.etc.
EyeShadow, a new, mixed-media work by New York based artist Bozidar Brazda, will be on view at The Moore Space in Miami from December 1, 2005-March 10, 2006. This is the latest installment in a series of overlapping, narrative installations that Brazda has been developing over the past two years. The video, watercolors and sculpture in EyeShadow hint at a plot involving Danish punks in search of the vanished star of a banned Eastern Bloc film. Bozidar Brazda was born in Cambridge, Canada in 1972. Recent exhibitions include The Journalist, Haswellediger & Co. New York (2004); Greater New York, PS1/MoMA (2005); Girls on Film, Zwirner & Wirth, New York (2005).
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The Moore Space is a non-profit arts organization dedicated to multi-disciplinary contemporary art practices. It offers a year-round program including exhibitions, educational programs, internships, artist residencies, lectures, and performances. Since its founding in 2001 by collector Rosa de la Cruz together with fellow collector Craig Robins, an integral part of its exhibition program has been to invite guest curators to contribute new ideas and new thought to the organization and the Miami arts community at large. The exhibitions are generously sponsored by Rosa de la Cruz, Craig Robins, Eugenio López/ la Colección Jumex, and Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, Cultural Affairs Council and The Mayor and the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners. Additional funding for the Jeppe Hein exhibition was provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and Johann Koenig, Berlin.
The Moore Space is located in Miamis Design District, at 4040 NE 2nd Avenue, 2nd Floor. ArtBasel exhibition hours are Thursday-Sunday, December 1-4 from 10 am to 5 pm, and by appointment. Regular hours thereafter are: Wednesday-Saturday, 10am-5pm. For more information, please call 305.438.1163, or visit our web site at www.themoorespace.org