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Glory Hole

November 5, 2005- December 23, 2005

Tim Noble & Sue Webster

Bortolami

510 W 25th St

Bortolami Dayan is proud to present Tim Noble and Sue Webster's latest body of work, The Glory Hole. The exhibition comprises new works that build on Noble and Webster's exploration of sculpture and their shadows as vehicles for juxtaposing positive and negative space. Earlier works employed piles of found objects including food detritus, wood and plastic scraps in seemingly haphazard heaps that were deceivingly arranged with great precision in order to project wall shadows of uncanny self-portrait silhouettes. Expanding on this idea, the show continues the artists' investigation of self-referential shadows using scraps of abstracted discarded steel to create purer shadowy forms. In the light, these steel sculptures are free-standing works that relate closely to mid 20th-century American and British sculptors such as David Smith and Anthony Caro. However, placed in a darkened room and lit from a very particular standpoint, these cold, permanent, abstract, steel works give way to surprisingly soft, ephemeral, representational images.

Noble and Webster's last solo exhibition in New York was at PS1/MoMA in 2003. There they exhibited shadow pieces, free standing sculptures, in addition to light works . one of the other major signatures of their past oeuvre. The light sculptures explore very banal words, images or icons such as I (Love) U, Forever and YE$, presented in flashing lights like one might see on Broadway or on the Las Vegas strip. Commenting on commercialism and consumerism, the artists put forth phrases that typically allure and seduce, yet simultaneously invoke sentiments of disgust with their trite, almost meaningless declarations. For this exhibition, the artists have created a site specific light sign that adorns the facade of the gallery. Using the original battered Victor Auto Service sign that predates the gallery, Noble and Webster have created a ghost sign that now advertises something that no longer is there and eerily creaks and swings in its original spot, serving as a headstone for the past tenants.

Born in the UK, in 1966 and 1967 respectively, Noble and Webster have been collaborating since 1995. They have had solo exhibitions at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, PS 1/ MoMA, New York, and CAC Malaga, Centro de Arte Contemporaneo de Malaga. Their work has been included in numerous group exhibitions including Monument to Now, The Dakis Joannou Collection, Athens, 2004, Form Follows Fiction, Castello di Rivoli, Turin, 2001, and Apocalypse: Beauty and Horror in Contemporary Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2000. They live and work in London.

Books and DVDs related to artists in this show

Location map  Gallery Bortolami Address 510 W 25th St New York (Chelsea) NY, 10001 United States Phone 212-727-2050 Fax 212-727-2060

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