Goings On | 3/24/2004

Franklin Furnace’s Goings On
March 24, 2004

CONTENTS:
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1. Ed Ruscha, FF Alumn, at Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, thru May 16
2. Regina Vater, FF Alumn, at Flatbed Gallery, opening April 7, Austin, Texas
3. Chrysanne Stathacos, FF Alumn, at Bennington College, thru April 18
4. Isabel Samaras, FF Alumn, at Varnish, San Francisco, opening March 25, and more
5. Lisa Kron, FF Alumn, reviewed in The New York Times, March 21
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1. Ed Ruscha, FF Alumn, at Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, thru May 16

ED RIUSCHA thru 16 May 2004
Museum of Contemporary Art
Circular Quay West
Sydney Australia
Open daily 10am – 5pm
Admission FREE
http://www.mca.com.au

ED RUSCHA, at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), is the first major Australian exhibition of work by one of America’s most influential and independent contemporary artists, Ed Ruscha. Presenting a comprehensive selection of the artist’s photographs, paintings, books and drawings from the 1960s to the present day, this exhibition includes a number of hyper-realistic paintings of snow-capped mountain peaks, superimposed with incongruous words, created especially for the MCA and subsequent exhibition venues in Rome and Berlin.

Primarily drawn from the artist’s studio, and augmented with institutional and private loans from Europe, the USA and Australia, this exhibition presents over 80 works on paper from the early 1960s, including the artist’s ongoing body of work collectively entitled The End, and 42 large-scale paintings from the late 1980s to the present day, which encompass the single word, silhouette, aerial streetscape and mountain themes for which Ruscha is so well known.

Also included are a number of photographs from Ruscha’s well-known series Parking Lots, Pools and Vacant Lots and many of the artist’s books – including Ruscha’s first publication, Twentysix Gasoline Stations (1962), which harks back to the artist’s frequent drives between Los Angeles and his family home in Oklahoma while he was at art school. Subsequent artist’s books include the equally deadpan Some Los Angeles Apartments (1965), Thirtyfour Parking Lots (1967), Nine Swimming Pools (1968) and A Few Palm Trees (1971).

In association with the exhibition Ruscha’s two rarely seen 16mm films, Premium (1971) and Miracle (1975), will be presented in a special one-night-only screening on Thursday 29 April at 6.30pm

ED RUSCHA SPECIAL EVENTS
International Artist Lecture
Thursday 18 March, 6.30pm
One of the most important lectures to be held at the MCA this year, Ed Ruscha delivers an illustrated talk exploring his career-long interest in popular culture, typography and language. Bookings: 02 9250 8484 or education@mca.com.au

Film Screening
Thursday 29 April, 6.30pm
Margaret Pomerantz of SBS Television’s The Movie Show hosts a special one-night only screening of Ruscha’s two rarely seen film works Premium 1971 (24 minutes) and Miracle 1975 (28 minutes). The exhibition remains open until 6.30pm, with a special pay-bar available following the screening. Bookings: 02 9250 8484 or education@mca.com.au

The Collecting Series
Tuesday 4 May, 6.30pm
Collecting Painting is the second in a series of MCA panel discussions exploring everything you need to know about collecting painting – from making your first purchase through to caring for your collection. Collecting Painting will be chaired by Miriam Cosic, Arts Editor, The Australian. Panellists include Archibald Prize winner Adam Cullen; Vasili Kaliman (Kaliman Gallery); art consultant Amanda Love; and Gabrielle Pizzi (Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi). Bookings: 02 9250 8484 or education@mca.com.au

The Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, is Australia’s leading museum dedicated to exhibiting, interpreting and collecting contemporary art from across Australia and around the world. Located on the edge of Sydney Harbour adjacent to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Museum of Contemporary Art overlooks the Sydney Opera House and is situated within Sydney’s historic and cultural precinct, The Rocks.
The Museum of Contemporary Art presents an engaging program of exhibitions and special events on art and related issues. From major thematic exhibitions and surveys of established artists, solo exhibitions and new work by emerging artists, painting and sculpture to new media, the MCA program covers the range and diversity of contemporary art.

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2. Regina Vater, FF Alumn, at Flatbed Gallery, opening April 7, Austin, Texas

Austin-based artists Regina Vater and Bill Lundberg to show their new work produced in Brazil at Flatbed Gallery.

Opening of “Pool,” new video installation by Bill Lundberg, and “Body Water,” a portfolio of documentary photography by Regina Vater.

Flatbed Gallery and 02 Alternative Space, 2830 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Opening is Wednesday, April 7, 2004.
Reception to follow from 6:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.
Gallery talk by both artists will take place Tuesday, April 20, at 6:00 p.m.
Exhibitions continue through May 1, 2003.

Bill Lundberg is one of the pioneers in the art of film installation. He has been called “The Magician of the Cinema “by the venerable French film journal Cahier du Cinema. He is also the founder of the video art courses in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Texas at Austin. Since the early seventies, he has focused the majority of his works on the subject of human relationships. “Pool” is a video sculpture which Lundberg began working on during his recent residency in Brazil as a Fulbright Fellow. The taping for the work was accomplished with the help of Lundberg’s students
in Fortaleza,the capital of the Brazilian state of Ceará, and was completed upon his return to Austin.

In the words of the artist:
“Pool” may be seen by some to have a certain strangeness, As in my orevius works, there is the element of illusion-the real replaced by the apparition. But in this case the “real” was based only on a memory. I had imaniged my life played backwardsŠin fast reverse. Images from all the years flashed by until I reached a point and then, I stopped and looked.

Lundberg is the recipient of important national art prizes, which include two NEA grants, two Fulbright Fellowships (1992 and 2003) and a Guggenheim Fellowship (1981). His works have been shown in major museums, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, P.S. 1 in New York City, the Institute of Contemporary Art (UK), Espace Lyonnais d’art contemporain (France) , Museu de Arte Contemporanea of the University of São Paulo (Brazi)l, and the Carnegie Institute Museum of Art (US). Lundberg’s regional one-man exhibitions include the Contemporary Arts Museum, 2002 (Houston), the Jack S. Blanton Museum, 1999 (Austin), and the ArtPace Institute, 1998 (San Antonio).

Regina Vater has long been working with photography. Some of her documentary photos from 1973 are in the collection of the Paris Bibliothecque Nationale. In 1976, she represented Brazil at the Venice Biennial with a photo work on garbage and consumerism.

Vater’s interest in ecology dates from her first installation in 1970, making her one of the pioneers in art related to this issue. The series of photos she is presenting at Flatbed has to do with her concerns about the conservation of water. By registering the joyful relationship mankind has with water she underlines one of the great pleasures we have in life, which we will lose if our waters are wasted or contaminated.

In the artist’s words:
Running throughout yea(R)ivers
0r
Dripping daily
The almost unnoticed joyful gift,
Fountain of Ever?
Life
Will it succeed?
If the eternal spring
Dries out?

Besides her very recent color photographs taken in Austin at Barton Springs Pool and at several beaches in Brazil, the portfolio also encompasses some of the first photos that Vater took in Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro on this subject in 1977, which are now part of a major collection of Brazilian art in Rio de Janeiro.

In March 2003, Vater launched at Book People her Artist’s Book in homage to John Cage “Sounds Good”. It was listed in the Austin Chronicle as one the recommended cultural events of the year. She also showed her installations at the “Shellife” exhibit at the Austin Women & Their Work Gallery in April of the same year. In 2002, she curated the exhibit “Brazilian Visual Poetry” at Mexic-Arte Museum, which included her installation “Camõe’s Feast.” Both exhibits received strong reviews. Art in America featured an article on the visual poetry exhibit, “In Concrete Language,” by Raphael Rubinstein, in the May 2002 issue.

Vater is the winner of important national and international art prizes, such as, a Guggenheim Fellowship (1980), a New Jersey Council for The Arts artists grant (1984), an ArtPace Institute residency (1999), and she has works in many international collections, including the Jack S. Blanton Museum and the San Antonio Museum of Art. Vater has lived in Austin since 1985.

This show was partially made possible with funds form the City of Austin under the umbrella of Mexic-Arte Museum.

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3. Chrysanne Stathacos, FF Alumn, at Bennington College, thru April 18

THIN
Irit Batsry
Omer Fast
Chrysanne Stathacos
A Constructed World

Opening Reception
March 23, 2004 6-8 PM and
8-10 PM Screening of These Are Not My Images (neither there nor here) by Irit Batsry

Usdan Gallery, Bennington College, One College Drive, Bennington,
Vermont 802 440 4549
On exhibit March 23 – April 18, 2004 Hours: Tues – Sat 10-5 PM
Curators: Maxine Henryson, Rina Banerjee, and students
http://student.bennington.edu/~thinexhibit/invite.html

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4. Isabel Samaras, FF Alumn, at Varnish, San Francisco, opening March 25, and more

Hey gang — two chances to see some of my work live and in person in SF (I’ll have 5 pieces in the Varnish show, one in the Juxtapoz show). Thanks, Isabel Samaras

Opening THIS THURSDAY, March 25th, 7-11pm
SKIN DEEP
featuring scintillating works of art by —
Sunny Buick
Kirsten Easthope
Annette Hassell
Sharon Leong
Isabel Samaras
Andrea Tucker

Varnish Fine Art
77 Natoma St.
www.varnishfineart.com
415-222-6131

And *next* Thursday — Opening April 1st, 7-10pm
“Juxtapoz 10th Anniversary Exhbition”
(probably starring everybody that’s ever graced the pages of Juxtapoz magazine)
111 Minna Gallery
111 Minna St.
www.111minnagallery.com

Hope to see your smiling mugs!
Isabel Samaras
izzycat@aol.com
http://www.devilbabe.com
Monster Illustration!
http://www.monsterillo.com
Posters @ Poster Planet:
http://www.posterplanet.com/samaras/samaras1.html

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5. Lisa Kron, FF Alumn, reviewed in The New York Times, March 21

Lisa Kron’s new work being presented at the Public, “Well,” received a giant review with pictures and text from the show in The New York Times on Sunday, March 21. (www.nytimes.com) Congratulations, Lisa!

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Goings On are compiled weekly by Harley Spiller

Click http://www.franklinfurnace.org/goings_on.html
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