Conversations: Los Carpinteros, James Casebere, Iran do Espirito Santo, Callum Innes
April 7 - May 7, 2011Statement
John Berggruen Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition featuring work by Los Carpinteros, James Casebere, Iran do Espírito Santo, and Callum Innes on view from April 7 – May 7, 2011. A preview will be held on Thursday, April 7th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.
Founded in 1991, Los Carpinteros, a collaborative comprised of two artists, Marco Castillo and Dagoberto Rodríguez, create sculpture, installations, and works on paper which merge elements of architecture and design. Included in the exhibition are watercolors and sculpture which take inspiration from the physical world. Los Carpinteros explore the mutable territory between the pragmatic and the imaginary, often including humorous and ironic subject matter.
New York based artist James Casebere, also focuses on architecture and structure within a landscape by building complicated and detailed tabletop models which are photographed in his studio. Employing verisimilitude as one of his artistic tools, Casebere’s photographs often create a mood of emotional isolation. All of Casebere’s images are conspicuously absent of human form. However, one sees evidence of habitation in subtle ways: lights shining through windows, fires burning and garden hoses on lawns. By removing direct references to the human figure, Casebere creates an abstract narrative, allowing the viewers to place themselves within the image, in a sense completing the work.
Brazilian artist Iran do Espírito Santo uses a minimalist approach to his sculpture and works on paper. He often uses materials such as glass, stainless steel, stone, or copper to give a tactile quality to his work while abstracting everyday items. Working with extreme precision and applying extraordinary technical rigor, the artist captures all details and is able to achieve perfection of each object’s form. His works reference design and functionality, as well as traditions within the Minimalist oeuvre.
Callum Innes, a Scottish artist, uses a similar approach to achieving form through his paintings. Innes’s new works represent a significant departure from his iconic “Exposed Paintings” and are an exciting development in his continuing investigation into the making and unmaking of abstract painting. Innes still methodically prepares the paintings’ surfaces with size and gesso (as in the “Exposed Paintings”), yet in these new works, the picture plane is split vertically in half. Innes applies two separate colors across the entire surface and then rigorously removes the paint on one side. This process is repeated, leaving one half of the painting covered in layered, complex color whilst the other half of the painting is cleansed as much as possible back to the original gesso. Inevitably, the cleaned half retains a trace of the colors that were already absorbed. Each finished painting thus suggests a freezing in time of the otherwise momentary arrest of an ongoing process.
For further information and photographs, please contact the gallery at 415.781.4629 or info@berggruen.com. The gallery hours are Monday – Friday, 9:30-5:30, and Saturday, 10:30-5:00.
Artists
Los Carpinteros
Callum Innes
Iran do Espirito Santo
Exhibition Works
Los Carpinteros Bum Bum 2008 Watercolor on paper 63 x 45 inches
Los Carpinteros El Muro #18 2001 Watercolor on paper 81 x 102 inches
Los Carpinteros Fire Extinguisher 2011 Watercolor on paper 27 1/2 x 39 3/8 inches
Los Carpinteros Nueve Tambores Cuadrados 2011 Watercolor on paper 26 1/8 x 40 1/8 inches
Los Carpinteros Rio (Los Encantos de la colectividad) 2002 Watercolor on paper 64 1/4 x 88 inches
Los Carpinteros Sala de Lectura Ovalada (prototipo) 2011 1/8 inch MDF 22 1/4 x 51 1/8 x 31 1/2 inches, Edition 1/5
Los Carpinteros Vista desde Arriba 2010 Watercolor on paper 44 5/8 x 63 inches
James Casebere House on Hill 1990 Vintage gelatin silver print 29 1/2 x 39 5/8 inches, Edition 2/10
James Casebere Landscape with Houses (Dutchess County, NY) #2 2009 Framed digital chromogenic print mounted to Dibond 44 x 67 inches, Edition 4/5
James Casebere Landscape with Houses (Dutchess County, NY) #7 2010 Digital chromogenic print mounted to Dibond 69 3/4 x 89 1/8 inches, Edition 1/5
James Casebere Landscape with Houses (Dutchess County, NY) #8 2010 Framed digital chromogenic print mounted to Dibond 44 x 54 1/2 inches, Edition of 4/5
James Casebere Lighthouse 1983-84 Vintage gelatin silver print 31 x 24 1/4 inches, 3/7
James Casebere Sing Sing #2 1992 Vintage gelatin silver print 29 1/2 x 38 3/4 inches, Edition 1/7
James Casebere Subdivision with Spotlight 1982 Gelatin silver print 16 x 20 inches, Edition 4/7
Callum Innes Monologue Black 28 2008 Oil on canvas 76 3/4 x 76 3/4 inches
Callum Innes Repetition 2009 Oil on canvas 76 3/4 x 76 3/4 inches
Callum Innes Untitled No 100 2009 Oil on canvas 24 3/8 x 23 5/8 inches
Callum Innes Untitled No 62 2010 Oil on canvas 32 1/4 x 31 1/2 inches
Callum Innes Untitled No 97 2009 Oil on canvas 24 3/8 x 23 5/8 inches
Callum Innes Untitled No 98 2009 Oil on canvas 23 5/8 x 24 3/8 inches
Callum Innes Untitled, from the Cento series 2009 Oil on oil paper 73 5/8 x 36 1/4 inches
Callum Innes Untitled, from the Cento series 2009 Oil on oil paper 80 3/4 x 39 3/8 inches
Iran Do Espirito Santo Can F 2004 Stainless steel 6 x 4 3/8 x 4 3/8, Edition 4 of 5 with 1 AP
Iran Do Espirito Santo Can G 2008 Granite 22 3/8 x 10 x 10, Edition 2/5 with 2 APs
Iran Do Espirito Santo Can L 2008 Granite 10 5/8 x 10 x 10, Edition 4/5 with 2 APs
Iran Do Espirito Santo Can P 2006 Stainless steel 9 x 5 1/4 x 5 1/4 inches, Edition 2/5 with 1 AP
Iran do Espirito Santo Efeméride 2 2008 Charcoal on paper 14 x 11 inches
Iran do Espirito Santo Picture 5 2004 Indian ink on gesso acrylic on MDF 23 1/8 x 23 1/8 x 1 3/4 inches
Iran Do Espirito Santo Twist 14 2010 Mirror 83 1/2 x 67 3/8 x 1/4 inches
Iran Do Espirito Santo Twist 7D 2011 Pencil on photogram 17 5/8 x 14 inches
Iran Do Espirito Santo Silver Pencil 2010 Stainless steel 1/2 x 5/8 x 14 1/8 inches, Edition 2/25 with 4 APs