Artists Space

Model Modernisms

March 9 – April 23, 2005

Main Space
Curated by Christian Rattemeyer

Model Modernisms originates from a concern for the remaining effects of different periods of utopian modernism—understood simultaneously as moments of formal and social transformation.

Artists: Carol Bove, Nathan Coley, Olaf Nicolai, Mai-Thu Perret, Florian Pumhösl, de Rijke/de Rooij, Bojan Sarcevic

This exhibition originates from the practice of three emerging artists from Europe—Olaf Nicolai from Germany, Florian Pumhösl from Austria, and Bojan Sarcevic from France—whose work responds to the complex tradition of modernism, especially the zones of contact between formalist aesthetics and their political, social, and ideological origins.

Works by these artists will be combined with work by young American artists that share similar concerns.

While modernism as a set of aesthetic inventions appears historic and complete, and modernity as a period of dramatic social change seems superseded by other forces, the social and formal products of these earlier moments of utopian thought still define our everyday routines as well as our aesthetic judgments.

The artists in Model Modernisms engage subjects as diverse as the decade of civil rights and sexual revolution in America, utopian communities in the American West, the adaptations of pre-war designs in post-war socialist vernacular architecture and design, the uneasy relationship between modern aesthetics and pre-modern ornamentation, as well as the buried legacies of non-geometric abstractions in the development of a modern formal aesthetic.

The corner of a gallery space. At the base of the corner, where both walls meet the floor, a small area of the wall has been removed and replaced with the materials from another building
Model Modernisms. Installation view, Artists Space, 2005. [The corner of a gallery space. At the base of the corner, where both walls meet the floor, a small area of the wall has been removed and replaced with the materials from another building's wall, displayed in a cross-section. Several black and white, framed photo-collages hang on the wall to the right of the corner.]
A series of small, black and white photo-collages displayed in white frames on a gallery wall. The collages depict various interior spaces overlaid with geometric cut-outs of other photographic images.
Model Modernisms. Installation view, Artists Space, 2005. [A series of small, black and white photo-collages displayed in white frames on a gallery wall. The collages depict various interior spaces overlaid with geometric cut-outs of other photographic images.]
Several small, model-like black sculptural forms displayed on low wooden supports in the center of a large gallery space with wooden flooring. A large wall decal featuring eye-like forms and swirling, dripping stripes of color covers the wall to the left of the sculptures. Additionally, several framed 2D works hang on the back gallery walls behind the displayed sculptures.
Model Modernisms. Installation view, Artists Space, 2005. [Several small, model-like black sculptural forms displayed on low wooden supports in the center of a large gallery space with wooden flooring. A large wall decal featuring eye-like forms and swirling, dripping stripes of color covers the wall to the left of the sculptures. Additionally, several framed 2D works hang on the back gallery walls behind the displayed sculptures.]