Artists Space

Urban Pornography

October 25 – December 1, 2001

The city is made and made over into the simulacrum of the body, and the body, in its turn, is transformed, 'citified' urbanized as a distinctively metropolitan body.

– Elizabeth Grosz

Photographic print of an urban skyline on a sunny day. A small skyscraper juts out from a cluster of lower buildings at the image
Alex Slade, Ministry of Agriculture, Manaus Brasil, 1999. C-print, 60 x 38 inches. Courtesy the artist. [Photographic print of an urban skyline on a sunny day. A small skyscraper juts out from a cluster of lower buildings at the image's center. Text emblazoned across the facade of a low, white building in front of the skyscraper reads, "TROPICAL" and "MERCADÃO DE BEBÊ." Cars drive along a four lane road to the left of the skyscraper.]

Main Space

Opening Reception
Thursday, October 25, 6:30 - 8:30 pm

Curated by Lauri Firstenberg

Urban Pornography examines the contemporary staging of the urban condition photographically. The recordings of banal structures and spaces range in approach from cynical to nostalgic, recovering obscure, in-between sites – domestic facades, billboards, cruise interiors, in a process of sensationalizing an abjected ordinary. In revealing the prosaic and spectacularizing the banal, the images of global metropoli represented by the group of artists, serve to critique the pervasion of repetition, sameness predictability, and excess of "the city."

The exhibition is accompanied by project rooms by Jonah Freeman and Michael Phelan who simulate metropolitan domestic and commercial interiors in a minimalist fashion. Their critique points to notions of generic structures that inhabit social spaces and the absent subjects who inhabit them.

November 7, 2001

Urban Pornography
Discussion
6:30pm

A dimly lit, color photograph of a desert installed on a white gallery wall. The desert ground is a bright orange color and includes many large rock features. The sky above is slightly blue and filled with clouds.
Urban Pornography. Installation view, Artists Space, 2001. [A dimly lit, color photograph of a desert installed on a white gallery wall. The desert ground is a bright orange color and includes many large rock features. The sky above is slightly blue and filled with clouds.]
Three framed photographs installed in a gallery space with white walls and wooden flooring. Two lighter photographs of white, industrial buildings are installed one above the other on a freestanding wall on the image
Urban Pornography. Installation view, Artists Space, 2001. [Three framed photographs installed in a gallery space with white walls and wooden flooring. Two lighter photographs of white, industrial buildings are installed one above the other on a freestanding wall on the image's left side. Visible behind and to the right of the freestanding wall is a third, color photograph of a city skyscraper rising out of an urban landscape.]
Two photographs displayed side-by-side on a white gallery wall. The photographs are of identical size and are installed in thin, dark frames. The photograph on the left depicts a nondescript industrial building, while a tall urban building is visible in the skyline of the image to the right.
Urban Pornography. Installation view, Artists Space, 2001. [Two photographs displayed side-by-side on a white gallery wall. The photographs are of identical size and are installed in thin, dark frames. The photograph on the left depicts a nondescript industrial building, while a tall urban building is visible in the skyline of the image to the right.]
Seven small, color photographic prints installed in light wooden frames on a white gallery wall. The photographs are displayed side-by-side in a horizontal line, some displayed in a landscape and some in a portrait orientation. All display images of various buildings in sunny environments.
Urban Pornography. Installation view, Artists Space, 2001. [Seven small, color photographic prints installed in light wooden frames on a white gallery wall. The photographs are displayed side-by-side in a horizontal line, some displayed in a landscape and some in a portrait orientation. All display images of various buildings in sunny environments.]
Three framed photographs installed in the corner of a gallery space with white walls and wooden flooring. Two darker, square photographs with large white frames are installed on the corner
Urban Pornography. Installation view, Artists Space, 2001. [Three framed photographs installed in the corner of a gallery space with white walls and wooden flooring. Two darker, square photographs with large white frames are installed on the corner's left wall, while a lighter photograph of a gate-like structure is installed in a slim black frame on the corner's right wall.]
Several photographs installed in a gallery space with white walls and wooden flooring. Four color photographs are arranged in a vertical line on a wall to the right side of the image. The wall terminates to the left of the displayed photographs, and a second wall extends into the gallery space directly behind it. Two large images comprised of pink and purple hues hang on a far gallery wall in the background of the image. The image on the left displays a futuristic looking, interior space.
Urban Pornography. Installation view, Artists Space, 2001. [Several photographs installed in a gallery space with white walls and wooden flooring. Four color photographs are arranged in a vertical line on a wall to the right side of the image. The wall terminates to the left of the displayed photographs, and a second wall extends into the gallery space directly behind it. Two large images comprised of pink and purple hues hang on a far gallery wall in the background of the image. The image on the left displays a futuristic looking, interior space.]

Urban Pornography Exhibition Booklet

Urban Pornography Exhibition Press Release

Special thanks to Peter Zellner, Architect, Exhibition Advisor.

    Photgraphic print of a low, blue and red building situated next to an empty multi-lane road on a sunny day. The building has a low blue facade with many windows, which face the street, and is decorated with two angular blue stripes. The building has a low, curved red roof. Text running along the side of the roof reads,
    Lourdes Grobet, Untitled Olmayaztec Series, 1992. C-print, 11 x 14 inches. Courtesy the artist. [Photgraphic print of a low, blue and red building situated next to an empty multi-lane road on a sunny day. The building has a low blue facade with many windows, which face the street, and is decorated with two angular blue stripes. The building has a low, curved red roof. Text running along the side of the roof reads, "RESTAURANTE." A tall, pyramid-like structure is visible in the distance behind the restaurant.]