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Pure Sean Kelly Gallery

Installation view of Pure: A Group Show at Sean Kelly, New York 
March 23 - April 28, 2007 
Photography: Wit McKay, New York
Courtesy: Sean Kelly, New York 

Pure Sean Kelly Gallery

Installation view of Pure: A Group Show at Sean Kelly, New York 
March 23 - April 28, 2007 
Photography: Wit McKay, New York
Courtesy: Sean Kelly, New York 

Pure Sean Kelly Gallery

Installation view of Pure: A Group Show at Sean Kelly, New York 
March 23 - April 28, 2007 
Photography: Wit McKay, New York
Courtesy: Sean Kelly, New York 

Pure Sean Kelly Gallery

Installation view of Pure: A Group Show at Sean Kelly, New York 
March 23 - April 28, 2007
Photography: Wit McKay, New York
Courtesy: Sean Kelly, New York 

Marina Abramovic Sean Kelly Gallery

Marina Abramović
Cleaning the House, 1995
wood and laser quartz crystals
61 1/2 x 23 x 17 inches (156.2 x 58.4 x 43.2 cm)
unique
MA-96

Luisa Lambri Sean Kelly Gallery

Luisa Lambri
Untitled (Barragan House #19), 2005
Laserchrome print
paper: 33 7/8 x 37 3/4 inches (86 x 96 cm)
framed: 35 x 38 1/4 inches (88.9 x 97.2 cm)
edition of 5
LL-12702

Frank Thiel Sean Kelly Gallery

Frank Thiel
Stadt 12/58 (Berlin), 2006
framed chromogenic print face mounted to Plexiglas
framed: 71 1/4 x 85 inches (181 x 216 cm)
edition of 4 plus 1 AP
FT-12/58

Callum Innes Sean Kelly Gallery

Callum Innes
Resonance Fifteen, 2004
oil on canvas
68 3/4 x 64 7/8 inches (174.5 x 164.5 cm)
CI-69.04

Joseph Beuys Sean Kelly Gallery

Joseph Beuys
Für Fußwaschung (For Foot Washing), 1977
washbasin and bar of soap
basin: 4 x 12 3/4 x 10 3/4 inches (10.2 x 32.4 x 27.3 cm)
soap: 3 x 1 5/8 x 3/4 inches (7.6 x 4.1 x 1.9 cm)
JB-17

Iran do Espirito Santo Sean Kelly Gallery

Iran do Espírito Santo
Water Glass, 2006/07
solid pure crystal
4 3/4 x 3 1/8 x 3 1/8 inches (12 x 8 x 8 cm)
edition of 25 with 3 APs
IdES-201

Richard Long Sean Kelly Gallery

Richard Long
White Pebble Line, 1988
white pebbles
252 x 23 inches (640.1 x 58.4 cm)
RL-1597

Wolfgang Laib Sean Kelly Gallery

Wolfgang Laib
Milkstone, 1998-2001
marble and milk
2 3/8 x 23 1/2 x 28 3/4 inches (6 x 59.7 x 73 cm)
WL-8

Press Release

Marina Abramovic, Joseph Beuys, Louise Bourgeois, Marcel Duchamp, Iran do Espírito Santo, Dan Flavin, Adam Fuss, Liam Gillick, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Jim Hodges, Jenny Holzer, Roni Horn, Shirazeh Houshiary, Bethan Huws, Callum Innes, Joseph Kosuth, Wolfgang Laib, Luisa Lambri, Sherri Levine, Sol LeWitt, Richard Long, Joseph Marioni, Piero Manzoni, Robert Mapplethorpe, Rita McBride, Anthony McCall, Robert Ryman, Julião Sarmento, Kiki Smith, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Frank Thiel, Gavin Turk, Rachel Whiteread, Jeff Zimmerman

Sean Kelly is delighted to announce a group exhibition PURE, which opens on March 24. The exhibition brings together works in diverse media that address the formal qualities of the color white and reflectivity. The exhibition continues through April 28. The opening will take place on Friday, March 23, from 6pm until 8pm.

Leonardo Da Vinci stated: "The first of all single colors is white ... We shall set down white for the representative of light, without which no color can be seen." The color white has conventionally been seen as a symbol of purity and clarity. The exhibition has as its starting point Marcel Duchamp's readymade Why Not Sneeze Rose Sélavy?, comprised of 152 pieces of white marble meticulously crafted to resemble sugar cubes. Joseph Beuys's For Washing, used in a famous performance in 1977, consists of a white washbasin and a bar of soap. Marina Abramovic's Cleaning the House utilizes quartz crystals signifying the rituals of everyday activities. Iran Do Espirito Santo's Water Glass sculpture, made of pure solid crystal, creates the illusion of a vessel, which is full of clear water.

Several artists in the exhibition reject traditional categories of painting and sculpture to explore new modes of art making which result in a plethora of unprecedented aesthetic and critical practices, ranging from industrially produced geometric abstractions, negating the hand of the artist, to text-based investigations. Joseph Kosuth utilizes a quote by Wittgenstein, produced in white neon, while the minimalist sculptor Dan Flavin uses commercially available fluorescent light fixtures. Jenny Holzer is represented by an LED sign that continually displays aphorisms in white lettering, and Sol LeWitt has created a new white wall drawing for the exhibition.

Though disparate in intent and formal resolution, the thirty-four works that fall under the rubric of Pure share an abiding impulse of paring a work of art down to its core color– be it a perfect cube, a basic repetitive gesture, or a simple declarative phrase. These works of art elicit diverse aesthetic responses to white, reflective surfaces, and the play of light and shadow contrasted with solids and voids.

Checklist

Entrance
Gavin Turk
White Diamond Elvis, 2007
diamond dust on canvas
50 3/4 x 36 5/8 1 15/16 inches (129 x 93 x 4.9 cm)
GT-20893

Marcel Duchamp
Why Not Sneeze Rose Sélavy?, 1964
152 marble cubes in the shape of sugar lumps,
thermometer, and cuttlebone in a small birdcage,
fitted with four wooden bars
5 3/8 x 9 3/8 x 7 3/8 inches (13.5 x 24 x 18.7 cm)
MD-53

Gallery I (clockwise from left)

Roni Horn
Untitled, 1987
blue and white pigment on varnish paper
paper: 13 3/8 x 22 inches (34 x 56 cm)
framed: 17 3/4 x 24 1/2 inches (45.1 x 62.2 cm)
RoH-3

Rachel Whiteread
PHOTOS, 2004
plaster (four units)
8 x 20 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches (20.3 x 52.1 x 41.9 cm)
RW-697

Felix Gonzalez-Torres
Untitled (21 Days of Bloodwork - Steady Decline), 1994
21 graphite and gouache works on paper
paper: each 15 x 11 inches (38.1 x 27.9 cm)
framed: each 16 1/2 x 12 3/8 inches (41.9 x 31.4 cm)
FG-2

Adam Fuss
ARK, 2004
daguerrotype
14 x 11 inches (35.6 x 27.9 cm)
framed: 21 1/2 x 18 1/2 inches (54.6 x 47 cm)
AF-12833

Anthony McCall
Study for "Leaving" (360º rotation)
55 minutes seen from left and right, 2006
pair of pencil drawings on paper
paper: each 12 1/2 x 17 inches (31.8 x 43.2 cm)
framed: each 14 1/8 x 18 1/8 inches (35.9 x 46 cm)
AMc-25a,b

Joseph Beuys
Für Fußwaschung, 1977
washbasin and bar of soap
basin: 4 x 12 3/4 x 10 3/4 inches (10.2 x 32.4 x 27.3 cm)
soap: 3 x 1 5/8 x 3/4 inches (7.6 x 4.1 x 1.9 cm)
JB-17

Marina Abramovic
Cleaning the House, 1995
wood and laser quartz crystals
each: 61 1/2 x 23 x 17 inches (156.2 x 58.4 x 43.2 cm)
unique
MA-96

Hallway

Richard Long
White Pebble Line, 1988
marble pebbles
252 x 23 inches (640.1 x 58.4 cm)
RL-1597

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Mathematical Form 0005, 2004
black and white photograph
image: 22 1/2 x 18 1/4 inches (57.2 x 46.4 cm)
framed: 32 1/4 x 28 3/4 inches (82 x 73 cm)
edition of 25 (#7/25)
HS-0005.7

Luisa Lambri
Untitled (Barragan House #19), 2005
Laserchrome print
paper: 33 7/8 x 37 3/4 inches (86 x 96 cm)
framed: 35 x 38 1/4 inches (88.9 x 97.2 cm)
edition of 5
LL-12702.1

Robert Mapplethorpe
Calla Lily, 1988 / printed in 1990
gelatin silver print
image:19 1/4 x 19 1/4 inches (49 x 49 cm)
paper: 23 3/4 x 19 3/4 inches (60.3 x 50.2 cm)
framed: 36 x 35 inches (91.4 x 88.9 cm)
edition of 10 (#8/10) with 2 APs
MAP-1834.8

Gallery II (clockwise from left)

Dan Flavin
Untitled, 1975
four fluorescent tubes - daylight and cool white
overall dimensions: 48 x 10 inches (121.9 x 25.4 cm)
edition of 5
DF-2

Sol LeWitt
A white square is divided horizontally and vertically into four
equal parts, each with a different direction of alternating flat
white and glossy white bands. March, 2007
first drawn by: Boshko Boskovic and John Hogan
acrylic paint
8 ft 6 in square (259 cm square)
unique

Iran do Espírito Santo
Water Glass, 2006/07
solid pure crystal
4 3/4 x 3 1/8 x 3 1/8 inches (12 x 8 x 8 cm)
edition of 25 (#6/25) with 3 APs
IdES-201.6

Robert Ryman
Note, 1998
oil and graphite on multi-density fiber board
15 1/8 x 15 1/8 inches (38.4 x 38.4 cm)
RR-2

Jenny Holzer
Arno Blue, 2005
vertical LED sign with white diodes
and stainless steel housing
77 x 5 1/4 x 3 inches (195.6 x 13.3 x 7.6 cm)
edition of 6
JHZ-3

Piero Manzoni
Achrome, 1959
Kaoline on rippled canvas
framed: 7 1/2 x 9 3/4 inches (19 x 25 cm)
PM-2

Liam Gillick
Resistance Wall Structure, 2007
anodized aluminum, white opaque Plexiglas
two units, each: 19 5/8 x 23 5/8 inches (50 x 60 cm)
installed dimensions: 43 1/4 x 23 5/8 inches (110 x 60 cm)
unique
LG-0216

Rita McBride
Günther and Manfred (Middle Manager IV and V), 2003
powder coated aluminum
IV: 46 3/4 x 19 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches (118.7 x 49.5 x 24.1 cm)
V: 54 x 41 3/4 x 13 3/4 inches (137.2 x 106 x 34.9 cm)
edition of 3 (#2/3)
RMC-1.2

Main Gallery

(floor center)
Wolfgang Laib
Milkstone, 1998-2001
marble and milk
2 3/8 x 23 1/2 x 28 3/4 inches (6 x 59.7 x 73 cm)
WL-8

(clockwise from left)

Julião Sarmento
I Want You, 2005
mixed media on canvas
72 7/8 x 74 7/8 x 2 3/8 inches (185 x 190 x 6 cm)
JS-1818

Kiki Smith
Porcelain Bust, 2002
porcelain
11 x 10 1/4 x 8 inches (28 x 26 x 20.3 cm)
unique
KS-37770

Shirazeh Houshiary
Deep Sleep, 2003
white Aquacryl and graphite on canvas
74 3/4 x 74 3/4 inches (190 x 190 cm)
SH-7031

Joseph Kosuth
'#II 20. (On color/white)', 1991
white neon, transformer and certificate of authenticity
overall dimensions: 6 1/2 x 168 inches (16.5 x 426.7 cm)
JK-111

Callum Innes
Resonance Fifteen, 2004
oil on canvas
68 3/4 x 64 7/8 inches (174.5 x 164.5 cm)
CI-69.04

Jeff Zimmerman
Dented "Silver Rock Formation", 2006
glass
34 x 10 x 10 inches (86.4 x 25.4 x 25.4 cm)
JZ-748

Jim Hodges
Untitled (Reverse Study 1), 2005
cut chromogenic print
17 1/2 x 25 1/4 inches (44.5 x 64.1 cm)
JH-1

Frank Thiel
Stadt 12/58 (Berlin), 2006
framed chromogenic print face mounted to Plexiglas
framed: 71 1/4 x 85 inches (181 x 216 cm)
edition of 4 (#1/4) plus 1 AP
FT-12/58.L.1

Louise Bourgeois
The Mirror, 1998
wall piece, cast and polished aluminum
94 x 34 1/2 x 44 inches (238.8 x 87.6 x 111.8 cm)
edition of 6 (#3/6)
LB-11659.3

Sherrie Levine
Black and White Bottle: 10, 1992
cast crystal and black glass, sand-blasted
each: 13 x 3 x 3 inches (33 x 7. 6 x 7.6 cm)
edition of 12
SLE-164.A-B

Joseph Marioni
White Painting No. 24, 1996
acrylic and linen on stretcher
59 x 23 1/2 inches (149.9 x 59.7 cm)
JMa-96-24

Bethan Huws
Argon, 2006
clear tubing with argon gas mounted on Plexiglas
19 3/4 x 19 3/4 x 21 5/8 inches (50 x 50 x 55 cm)
Edition of 3 with 1 AP
BH-1