Empty Pockets
June 25, 2008- August 10, 2008
526 W 24th St
New York (June 24, 2008) –
Perry Rubenstein Gallery is pleased to present the New York premiere of Empty Pockets,
Robin Rhode's recent animation that debuted in Johannesburg in March and at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing in April.
Empty Pockets centers its narrative on the game of pool or billiards played outside in the public realm, as is common in neighborhoods in South Africa. Executed within the urban decay of Johannesburg's periphery, Rhode references the Babylonian worldview of a flat earth that stands on pillars; the introduction of a spherical object (the pool balls) interrupts the firmament or horizon. The pool table appears upside down (Rhode has subverted the original photographic image in post production) so that the balls appear to be floating in mid air. The atmosphere repositions the balls within the two-dimensional space. Rhode renders this space in three dimensions through the combination of his painting and the figure enacting the game. The figure is more of a form than a character, functioning as a vector, with the pool table as the axis upon which the action itself is mapped out. Within each frame, art historical sources come to mind – the Vitruvian Man, Mondrian's minimalism — are grounding but ultimately fleeting.
The animation will be included in Rhode's solo show at the Hayward Gallery curated by Stephanie Rosenthal opening this September. Other upcoming exhibitions and projects include a site-specific installation for Prospect.1, the New Orleans Biennale directed by Dan Cameron, an exhibition at White Cube in London in November, and a solo show at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in February 2009.
Concurrently on view at Perry Rubenstein's 527 W 23rd Street gallery is Paintings, a solo exhibition by Frankfurt/Main based artist Gabi Hamm (through July 2nd) and a group exhibition opening July 9th.
Books and DVDs related to artists in this show| Location | | | Gallery | Perry Rubenstein Gallery | | Address | 526 W 24th St New York (Chelsea) NY, 10011 United States | | Phone | 212-627-8000 | | Fax | 212-627-6336 | | Hours | Tue-Sat 10-6 (Summer hours: Mon-Fri 10-6) | |
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