Sean Kelly Gallery is pleased to announce the exhibition, RE-LOCATION: on moving. The opening of the exhibition will take place on March 1st from 6pm until 8pm.
RE-LOCATION will be the last exhibition in our SoHo space. Inspired by all that moving to a new space entails, the exhibition brings together works by a diverse group of artists that address various aspects of relocating. Moving generates a wealth of bittersweet associations from adventure to nostalgia for the place vacated, all of which are tempered by innumerable mundane practicalities. Appropriately, the exhibition begins with the famous photograph of Yves Klein jumping off a building, leaping into the void. The practical aspects of moving are reflected in Joseph Kosuth's one and three valises and in Richard Artschwager's Crate. Andy Warhol's Fragile refers perhaps not only to the boxes' contents, but also to a state of mind!
The people waiting for a train in Chantal Akerman's photograph and Cindy Sherman's and Douglas Gordon's hitchhikers are in transit between the place they have left behind and their destination. In Farm from Peter Garfield's mobile home series and Laurie Simmons' Walking Toilet the object itself is in transit between locations. The most paradigmatic representation of transition included in the exhibition is the photograph of Marcel Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase. Richard Long's photograph of a field of flowers has a negative X created by removing daisy heads, X also marks a possible destination. Gabriel Orozco's photograph of a cross shaped stone fire poetically reminds us of the simple yet warm sense of place.
Memories and emotional attachments that remain after departure constitute another register within the exhibition. A photograph of a room from Lorna Simpson's Interior/Exterior Full/Empty retains the impression of people having just left. Julião Sarmento's large painting on paper traces movement within a floor. Orit Raff photographs the indentations left by furniture in carpet. Traces of another kind are depicted in Vik Muniz' photographs of a phone booth and numbers written upon a wall. A video by Chistoph Girardet recalls the last dance before the final farewell, while Rachel Whiteread's light switch, reminds the last one out to turn off the lights.
In late April, Sean Kelly Gallery is expanding and moving to our new 7,000 square foot facility in the Chelsea area of Manhattan. Our new details are: 528 W. 29th Street, New York, New York 10001. Our new contact information will be 212.239.1181 (telephone) and 212.239.2467 (fax). We can still be found on the web at www.skny.com
