Jan Buennig, Vanessa Beecroft, Cheryl Donegan, Shelby Hughes
Panayota Kapela, Panos H. Koutras, Maria Papadimitriou, Elizabeth Peyton
December 3 – January 14, 2005
Opening: Saturday, December 3, 7 – 9 pm
I have this idea about a show called CLOSET: I want to use only one of the three suite rooms of Nice & Fit that can be isolated by closing two double doors and recreate the idea of the Studiolo, that is a room that became fashionable in the Renaissance (Italy, France) and where things precious were kept. Already in affluent households there were “galleries” that showcased "official" art – but studiolos were private: one spent time there alone and others could enter by invitation only.
In this case, I want to show work that has been pivotal and introduce new artists too: work by Elizabeth Peyton, Richard Hamilton, Cheryl Donegan, Maria Papadimitriou, Vanessa Beecroft artists with whom I've been talking to lately, Panayota Kapella, Jan Buennig, Shelby Hughes, Panos Koutras and some texts: Michel Foucault’s “What is Enlightenment”. pages from Paul Valery’s “Monsieur Teste”, the Mary Barnard translation of Sappho, pages from Andy Warhol’s “Diaries” and “The Princess of Cleves”.
Madame de Lafayette, the author of this seventeenth century novel refers to the studiolo as the CLOSET: when the hero steals a freshly painted portrait of the princess he runs to his closet; when he sees her but can’t speak to her he flees the party to shut himself in the closet.
The works
Shelby Hughes says of her sound piece: “I recorded all of “Airs and Ours” (2004) in my bedroom with different people visiting me and helping out. It’ s darker than my other record, but more scripted.” Martin Kippenberger photographed by Maria Papadimitriou on the island of Syros: cranky, funny, melancholy. Early work by Cheryl Donegan, Peyton and Beecroft: the pleasure principle. Young painter Panayota Capella insisting on truth in painting. Panos Koutras’ short film “ The Fall and rise of Lydia von Buren”: what happens when you spend too much time in one room. Two pieces by young sculptor Jan Buennig, the “Helmet” and the “Jumping rope”, salient and precarious.