BRENDAN FLANAGAN : PRESET MISPRONOUNCED

As he rose to his feet he noticed that he was neither dripping nor panting for breath as anyone would expect after being under water. His clothes were perfectly dry. He was standing by the edge of a small pool—not more than ten feet from side to side... There were no birds, no insects, no animals, and no wind... The pool he had just got out of was not the only pool. There were dozens of others—a pool every few yards as far as his eyes could reach.

C.S Lewis, in his book The Magician's Nephew, goes on to explain how each pool leads to a different world.  It is this inter-dimensional gateway aspect of Brendan Flanagan's new work that we find so engaging.  He is not showing abstract paintings but rather entry points to the murky and often unnerving world found behind the computer screen.  In this regard the work could be viewed as landscape paintings, depicting an environment that to many people is closer than the wilderness of nature.

Intent on revealing the quirks of the computer programs that have become the ubiquitous mediators of images today, in his paintings, Flanagan plays up and tinkers with the structures that are concealed beneath virtual images. While some grids appear to lie on the surface, others seemingly rise from within the painting’s core, an effect simulating three-dimensional rendering in digital design. The result is a palpable tension between depth and flatness, illusion and abstraction, actual and virtual.

The implausible aspect of his work is felt in a physical way making it crucial to see this visceral work in person to appreciate the full effect. Flanagan's focus surrounds cultural preoccupations with the future, and by insisting on handmade components he undermines the digital processes that "clean up"and standardize contemporary production.

Preset Mispronounced is on view at Division Gallery, Toronto, until February 28, 2015.

NOEL MIDDLETON : ORDER OF OPERATIONS

Walking into Noel Middleton's Order of Operations at Narwhal Gallery brings me back to the hall of plaster casts at the V&A Museum in London.  He has filled the modest gallery with plaster sculptures evoking Roman statuary, columns and artifacts.  He is intentionally calling the viewer to think back to objects of antiquity through his presentation and yet the pieces are casts not of ancient carvings but rather the detritus from renovations that happened in the the very gallery he's situated them.  On closer inspection the statues can be seen as effigies to various trades associated with building; the plumber, the electrician and the framer.  Middleton even marks the passage of time through a tower of cast toilet rolls that evoke a measuring stick at an archaeological dig.

Like the previous renovations that Middleton peeled away, the work also can be viewed as many layered, referencing the demands and restraints that materials place on process, the restoration and appropriation of past cultures, and the importance of seeing the value in cast off and abandoned objects.

The show is absorbing and, like many museum displays of antiquities, overwhelming in content and volume.  The individual pieces each carry their own power and battle for attention and place.  The sublime texture of the plaster and majesty of the constructions contrast sharply with the textures of mundane materials found on closer inspection.  I was delighted to witness Middleton's veneration of tradespeople, having prayed and cursed to their earthly counterpoints time enough.

photos courtesy of Narwhal Gallery

AT OOGA BOOGA

While in LA I visited Ooga Booga no.2 at 365 S Mission Rd. The lovely Hanna Hur, currently interning at this institution, showed us around the amazing warehouse gallery space that was previously a studio space for a single painter.  At first glance the Supports/Surfaces exhibition looked to be current work but it is in fact a movement of French artists who showed from 1969-1972.  The collective including André-Pierre Arnal, Pierre Buraglio, Louis Cane, Noël Dolla, Daniel Dezeuze, Christian Jaccard, Jean Michel Meurice, Bernard Pagés, Jean-Pierre Pincemin, Patrick Saytour,  and Claude Viallat.

In the basement of the space we found a humorous and compelling selection of black and white photographs featuring corner china cabinets and other strange built-ins.  A collection titled Solutions to Compound Problems by Jay Chung & Q Takeki Maeda. 

Great space and 2 solid exhibitions.  Well worth a visit next time your downtown LA.

ARKEN

The Arken Museum of Modern Art sits adjacent to a man-made beach just south of Copenhagen. Designed by Søren Robert Lund, the industrial structure is designed to echo its surroundings by looking like a giant beached ship.  The doors opened to visitors in 1996 with the vision that "a visit at Arken should add a new perspective to the visitor's life, making the individual wiser about himself and therefore life."  With permanent installations devoted to Damien Hirst, Anselm Reyle and Ai Weiwei, the Arken strives to explore themes surrounding our place in the modern world as well as the very definition of art. 

The most fun and interactive exhibition of the Arken was The Model by Palle Nielsen.  First mounted in 1968 at the Moderna Museum in Stolkholm, Nielsen created an environment for children to both play in and develop through painting and building.  Considered well ahead of its time, The Model allowed children to interact on their own terms in the hallowed museum halls.  Suitable for children 3-12, the child I had in tow was perhaps a bit young for the experience, but still looked charming in the foam pool.