Bruce Edelstein & Christian Erroi
BETWEEN SKY AND EARTH
Between Sky and Earth Bruce Edelstein & Christian Erroi September 16 – November 6, 2015
Bruce Edelstein born: California, USA
Bruce Edelstein: Playing with Clay At irst glance, the sculptures of Bruce Edelstein are somewhat reminiscent of the small models of houses discovered in ancient tombs of Egypt and China. For me, his artworks are essential architectural forms. In fact, Edelstein told me that for this body of work he was deeply inluenced by experimental houses commissioned by Arts and Architectural Magazine in the 1950s. The artist creates forms where void is as important as solid, recalling the grandeur of monuments. We learn from Edelstein that he irst began working with clay after his stay in Mexico and Columbia, where simple rustic utilitarian objects of daily use, such as bowls or jars, are made of clay and are often considered to be jewels of decorative art. Modeling in clay lies at the heart of his creative process; it is what drawing on paper is to the painter. Working through constructions and deconstructions, there is a playful side in the creative process of Edelstein: the inal shape is not always apparent to the artist, who rather stays attuned to the material, its accidents and its own life. In fact, the material is ordering, the hand is directing and Edelstein is selecting the lines according to his inspiration. Through this spontaneous process, the pieces evoke some sort of a three-dimensional, personal and meditative calligraphy. Similarly, the titles of the artist’s works are only found after the pieces have reached their inal completion. These poetic titles are initially not so obvious; however, they reveal to us an exquisite world where these small constructions are part of the nature itself. Sometimes, the material is not only plain clay but a clay enhanced with a special surface recalling granite, which infuses these small scale sculptures with the mystique of monumental ancient ruins. Edelstein’s artworks are enchanting, attracting us to the innate beauty and deepness that the artist has both sheparded and shaped. Paris, July 2015 Isabelle Leroy - Jay Lemaistre Conservateur Général du Patrimoine
Behemoth, 2014
Across the Abundant Sea, 2015
Reignout, 2014
Shrine, 2014
Case Study 4, 2014
Marooned, 2013
Behemoth, 2014 20 x 18 x 17” Clay Across the Abundant Sea, 2015 18 x 18 x 11” Clay
CHECKLIST
Reignout, 2014 15 x 17 x 18” Clay Shrine, 2014 20 x 15 x 17” Clay Case Study 4, 2014 15 x 15 x 9” Clay Marooned, 2013 20 x 18 x 14” Clay
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2015 “Between Sky and Earth,” Christian Duvernois Gallery, New York, NY, USA 2011 Hillwood Art Museum. Long Island University, Long Island, NY, USA 2008 Museo de los Pintores Qaxaquenos, Oaxaca, Mexico 2002 Denise Cade Gallery, New York, NY, USA 1999 Denise Cade Gallery, New York, NY, USA 1997 Denise Cade Gallery, New York, NY, USA 1994 Denise Cade Gallery, New York, NY, USA 1993 Gartner Torres Arte, Bogota, Colombia 1992 Denise Cade Gallery, New York, NY, USA 1984 Art Space Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA 1984 LA Artcore Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA1989 1982 Quint Gallery, San Diego, CA, USA 1981 Traction Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA 1980 Bhirasri Institute of Modern Art, Bankok, Thailand 1977 Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, CA, USA SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2015 “In Sight,” Terazzo Art Projects, New York, NY, USA 2007 “Pierogi Flat File Show,” Pocket Utopia, New York, NY, USA 2006 “Mallin Collection,” Johnson Gallery, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA 2004 “International Art Festival,” Burapha University, Thailand 2002 “1st Invitational Exhibition,” National Academy of Design, New York, NY, USA 2000 “Obsessive Drawing,” Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE, USA 1997 “Best of the Season, Selections from Gallery Exhibitions, 1996-1997.,” Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgeield, CT, USA 1995 Foreman Gallery, Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY, USA 1994 Denise Cade Gallery, New York, NY, USA 1993 Denise Cade Gallery, New York, NY, USA 1992 “Emerging Artists,” Sculpture Center, New York, NY, USA 1992 Denise Cade Gallery, New York, NY, USA 1992 Anthony Ralph Gallery, New York, NY, USA 1991 Willoughby Sharp Gallery, New York, NY, USA
1989 1988 1988 1988 1988 1983 1983 1983 1983 1982 1982 1982 197 1978
Schmidt-Dean Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, USA “Life Forms,” Freedman Gallery, Albright College, Reading, PA, USA “Los Angeles Artists,” Dongsbang Gallery, Seoul, South Korea “Los Angeles Artists,” Newz Gallery, Tokyo, Japan Bachofner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA “Los Angeles Artists,” Palm Springs Museum, Palm Springs, CA, USA Futura Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden Dongsbang Gallery, Seoul, South Korea Pan Paciic Art Exhibition, Seoul, South Korea Santa Monica College Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, USA “Los Angeles Artists,” Japanese Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA “Art-Alchemy,” California State College, Dominguez Hills, CA, USA “6 Downtown,” LACE, Los Angeles, CA, USA “California Sculpture,” Tortue Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
PERFORMANCES 1985 1983
“Light Part 20-2,1” stage design and performance, Kei Takei’s Moving Earth, LaMama Theater, New York, NY, USA “Light Part 18,” stage design, Kei Takei’s Moving Earth, Performing Garage, New York, NY, USA
GRANTS 2007 1980
Trinity Fellowship for Career Development CETA, California Confederation of the Arts
EDUCATION 1974 1975 1977
One-year study, St. Martin’s School of Art, London, England BFA, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA MFA, Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, California
Christian Erroi born: Aarau, Switzerland
Photo by Keliy Anderson-Staley
Christian Erroi: As Above Do you know the moment before you are fully awake in the morning? As you wake up from a deep REM sleep, you are awake, but have not yet started to recognize what is in your realm, prior to resuming your waking routine. Are you still dreaming? Can you control your body? You are not sure of the two worlds – where one starts and the other stops. This is a moment of transition, before any movement is understood, a second before the chaos gets organized. In Italian we have this word sovrappensiero “above thought.” When you are looking at someone in this state, they appear to be, for the instant, above time. As when you are tired and thinking of something and your eyes are not responding to any external stimuli. In English you might say absent-minded. As you try to make sense of the inner anarchy of the unconscious, your perceptions reorder themselves into something more coherent. I am interested in the unconscious gesture, the pre-deliberate gesture, the unintended gesture. I am interested in the origin of things before consciousness gets involved, the irst impulses of a body, which paradoxically come from the mind, but which have raced ahead before you realize it is happening - before concepts are formed. Within this neurological awakening of perceptions is, I feel, the spot where I can discover the precursors of thoughts – the esprit - the energy that erupts before being channeled into action… before realizing the limitations…my limitations, such as blindness or loss of memory. What is moving about that process is that it is the same starting point for each one of us, an equal playing ield. What does this have to do with photographs of plants?
The series of images I started to make in 2004 were called “as above.� In them, plants are preserved, as in a kind of living herbarium. Magnetic Resonance Images (MRI) were the inspiration for this way of making pictures. These pictures seemed to me to illustrate the echo to and fro between my mind and my visual perception of the outer world created by it. They are made to evoke the inside of my brain drawn with harmonious elements from nature into a kind of brain scan. Between inside and outside, a kind of limbo state is set up, without giving one the chance to take the lead irst. Making these images asks for my persistence and not my linear thinking, which is less important. Getting into a rhythm, observing, but with all of the senses present reinvents the relationship of my body and the environment. I realize that all of these words suggest images densely packed with information, but, conversely, what you see are a kind of shorthand, brief slashes across the white sky. I only want to retain what is vital and necessary: from landscape to time passing to rhythm, as I look for the right note. Christian Erroi July, 2015
07-15-15-no6147, 2015
07-15-15-no6183, 2015
07-15-15-no5884, 2015
26-01-06-no1844, 2006
10-16-04-no0076, 2004
02-11-06-no0993, 2006
02-11-06-no0993, 2006
07-05-15-no6899, 2015
03-22-08-no4931, 2008
01-01-07-no9985, 2007
11-10-07-no9709, 2007
12-15-07-no1280, 2015
11-10-07-no9707, 2007
11-10-08-no9726, 2008
06-19-15-no0158, 2015
06-28-15-no2596, 2015
06-30-15-no2585, 2015
06-20-15-no2631, 2015
06-26-15-no2683, 2015
CHECKLIST
As Above Series
06-19-15-no0158, 2015 06-28-15-no2596, 2015 06-30-15-no2585, 2015 06-20-15-no2631, 2015 06-26-15-no2683, 2015
07-15-15-no6147, 2015 07-15-15-no6183, 2015 07-15-15-no5884, 2015 26-01-06-no1844, 2006 10-16-04-no0076, 2004 02-11-06-no0993, 2006
30 x 40” Photographs Each edition of 3
7 x 11” Photographs Each edition of 10
02-11-06-no0993, 2006 07-05-15-no6899, 2015 03-22-08-no4931, 2008 01-01-07-no9985, 2007
11-10-07-no9709, 2007 12-15-07-no1280, 2015 11-10-07-no9707, 2007 11-10-08-no9726, 2008
16 x 20” Photographs Each edition of 7
20 x 30” Photographs Each edition of 5
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2013 “Good good good. Good,” ICP/Bard MFA Studios, NY, USA 2010 “Leads and Traces,” New York Public Library, New York, NY, USA 2008 “Hemianopia / Agnosia”, Poissant Gallery/FotoFest, Houston, TX, USA 2007 “as above,” Cons Arc, Chiasso, Tessin, Switzerland 2003 “Paesaggi,” Il Raggio Gallery, Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland 1998 “Barche al Macello,” Macello Communale, Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2015 “The Future is Forever,” Mana Contemporary & International Center for Photography, Jersey City, NJ, USA 2013 “ICP Triennial: A Different Kind of Order [Artist Book Reading Room],” International Center for Photography, New York, NY, USA 2013 “Enter from Above,” International Center for Photography Rita K. Hillman Gallery, New York, NY, USA 2010 “Nature Within,” 25 CPW, New York, NY, USA 2010 “Swiss Art and Other Machinations,” Governors Island, New York, NY, USA 2009 “Perspective,” Lishui International Photography Culture Festival, Lishui, China 2009 “Transmutations – Abstractions in Nature”, Michael Mazzeo Gallery, New York, NY, USA 2008 “now you see it now you don’t,” Camera Club Gallery, New York, NY, USA 2007 “Camera Club Beneit Auction,” Peer Gallery, New York, NY, USA 2006 “Photo-London,” Marla Hamburg Kennedy, London, UK 2006 “Art & Commerce Festival of Emerging Photographers,” Milan, Italy 2006 “Art & Commerce Festival of Emerging Photographers,” Tokyo, Japan 2005 “Art & Commerce Festival of Emerging Photographers,” New York, NY, USA 2005 “ Arles Photo Festival,” International Center of Photography, Arles, France 2004 “Art & Commerce Festival of Emerging Photographers,” New York, NY, USA 2004 “Parchi Natura”, Maghetti Quarter, Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland 2004 “The Image World,” International Center of Photography, New York, NY, USA 2003 “Move,” The Knitting Factory, New York, NY, USA 2003 “Once Upon a Time,” Center for Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, NY, USA 2002 “Life in the City”, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA
EDUCATION 2013 2001 2000 1994
MFA in Advanced Photographic Studies, ICP/Bard, New York, NY, USA International Center of Photography, General Studies in Photography, New York, NY, USA School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, USA Instituto Spinelli, Book Restoration, Florence, Italy
ACADEMIC HONORS 2012/13 2000/01
Director’s Grant Scholarship / ICP-Bard Via Wynroth Scholarship / International Center of Photography
PUBLICATIONS 2015 2014 2013 2012 2008 2008 2007 2007 2005 2005 2003 2002 1997
Erroi, Christian. Gioppino. (New York: Self-published) Identities Now: contemporary portrait photography, edited by Tim Blanks & Peter Hay Halpert (New York: PHH) Erroi, Christian. Digit. (New York: Self-published) Erroi, Christian. Alp/Bryan. (New York: Self-published) “Creating with Vegetable Tools,” L’Uomo Vogue, July-August, No 392 FotoFest 08 Participating Spaces Catalogue (Houston, TX) Erroi, Christian. as above. (New York: Self-published) “Scatti di Coscienza,” D: La Repubblica delle Donna, No. 531, 13 January Peek: The Art + Commerce Festival of Emerging Photographers (New York: Art + Commerce) Sonrian! Photography Magazine (Buenos Aires, Argentina) Photography Quarterly (Woodstock, New York) Berlingske Tidende (Copenhagen, Denmark), 29 March Problemica Magazine (Ticino,Switzerland)
648 Broadway, Suite 804 New York, New York 10012 212.268.3628 info@ChristianDuvernois.com Tue - Sat, 10AM to 6PM