Artists Space

Sean Snyder

December 1, 2010 – February 13, 2011

Despite the ever-increasing amount of images we are exposed to, it could be conjectured that we see less. We see less of the image itself, overpowered by the meaning imposed by the discursive context in which it appears. But what if we displace an image from its reception on a screen or printed matter, blow it up and examine it? What if we capture video, slow it down and review it?
– Sean Snyder, Optics. Compression. Propaganda, 2007

A person in army camouflage and a military gun grabs a handful of packaged cookies from a stand selling assorted candies, snacks, sodas, and other food.
Sean Snyder, still from Casio, Seiko, Sheraton, Toyota, Mars, 2004-5. Courtesy Lisson Gallery, London. [A person in army camouflage and a military gun grabs a handful of packaged cookies from a stand selling assorted candies, snacks, sodas, and other food.]

Artists Space presents the first institutional exhibition by US artist Sean Snyder (b. 1972 Virginia Beach, living in Berlin, Kiev and Tokyo), encompassing the breadth of his practice over the past decade.

During this period Snyder has been recognized internationally with one-person exhibitions at among others the Stedlijk Museum, Amsterdam; Secession, Vienna; Portikus, Frankfurt; and De Appel, Amsterdam, occupying a unique position with his use of research-based methodologies, in which Snyder adopts an analytical approach to the circulation of information and imagery within the global media.

Snyder's work, realized in the form of installations and publications, comprises the re-framing of found images, video, and text, alongside the presentation of material produced through his research process. Utilizing archival documentary sources such as news agencies, image data banks, and government bodies, as well as the more furtive digital sphere of blogs and chat rooms, Snyder composes studies of instances in which the material manipulation of information is exposed. Touching on subjects such as urban planning, the "war on terror," and the technologies of image production and dissemination, Snyder reveals the construction and transposition of ideologies through systems of representation.

The exhibition features key works including Dallas Southfork in Hermes Land, Slobozia, Romania (2001), which documents the presence of a replica of Southfork Ranch from the 1980s television show Dallas in post-socialist Romania; and Casio, Seiko, Sheraton, Toyota, Mars (2004-05), a work that uses footage of the conflicts in Iraq to map the consumerist impulse behind the production of images of war.

Sean Snyder's recent solo exhibitions include: Institute for Contemporary Arts, London; Index - The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation, Stockholm (both 2009); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven (both 2007); Portikus, Frankfurt am Main; Secession, Vienna (both 2005); De Appel, Amsterdam; Neue Kunst Halle, St Gallen (both 2004).

December 8, 2010

Jan Verwoert on Sean Snyder
Lecture
7pm

January 28, 2011

Lucy Raven
Artist Talk
7pm

February 3, 2011

Thomas Keenan and Eyal Weizman in conversation
Conversation
7pm

An installation shot of two gallery walls, one white and one unpainted wood, meeting in a corner. The white wall displays nine images with accompanying text. The wood wall has an old television on a metal stand, showing a cartoon image.
Sean Snyder. Installation view, Artists Space, 2010-11. Photo: Daniel Peréz. [An installation shot of two gallery walls, one white and one unpainted wood, meeting in a corner. The white wall displays nine images with accompanying text. The wood wall has an old television on a metal stand, showing a cartoon image.]
Ten black and white photographs arranged in a rectangle on a white wall. The images show various scenes of assorted trash on streets.
Sean Snyder. Installation view, Artists Space, 2010-11. Photo: Daniel Peréz. [Ten black and white photographs arranged in a rectangle on a white wall. The images show various scenes of assorted trash on streets.]
A white table holds a white model of a house. Behind it, a television on a stand displays an image of a large, white house. There is a white wall with five color photographs arranged in a cross formation with images of a large house and yard.
Sean Snyder. Installation view, Artists Space, 2010-11. Photo: Daniel Peréz. [A white table holds a white model of a house. Behind it, a television on a stand displays an image of a large, white house. There is a white wall with five color photographs arranged in a cross formation with images of a large house and yard.]
A white wall with three sets of multiple photographs of rooms. Each set of photographs has a framed accompanying text below.
Sean Snyder. Installation view, Artists Space, 2010-11. Photo: Daniel Peréz. [A white wall with three sets of multiple photographs of rooms. Each set of photographs has a framed accompanying text below.]
A television on a metal stand shows an image of a man in a cowboy hat. A white bar with black text on the bottom of the screen reads, "The actor said. He explains that thousands of bootleg copies."
Sean Snyder. Installation view, Artists Space, 2010-11. Photo: Daniel Peréz. [A television on a metal stand shows an image of a man in a cowboy hat. A white bar with black text on the bottom of the screen reads, "The actor said. He explains that thousands of bootleg copies."]
A makeshift screening room enclosed by unpainted wooden walls. There are two wooden benches arranged to face a projector screen. The screen displays an image of a luxury pool surrounded by palm trees, with the sun shining.
Sean Snyder. Installation view, Artists Space, 2010-11. Photo: Daniel Peréz. [A makeshift screening room enclosed by unpainted wooden walls. There are two wooden benches arranged to face a projector screen. The screen displays an image of a luxury pool surrounded by palm trees, with the sun shining.]

Sean Snyder Exhibition Booklet

Decter, Joshua. "Sean Snyder." Artforum. March, 2011. Print. 268.

Exhibition architecture by Jonathan Caplan.

Sean Snyder is supported by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, The New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency and The Friends of Artists Space. With thanks to Lia Gangitano, Participant Inc.; Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris; Lisson Gallery, London; and Galerie Neu, Berlin.

    A slightly blurry image of a city in the evening. An outline of a tall, triangular building is visible against a sunset sky.
    Sean Snyder, still from Two Representations of a Given Place (Pyongyang), 2001-4. Courtesy the artist; Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris; Lisson Gallery, London; and Galerie Neu, Berlin. [A slightly blurry image of a city in the evening. An outline of a tall, triangular building is visible against a sunset sky.]