“没有什么是简单的”是我们一次又一次听到的重复. Everything around us, including instructions, sounds, ideas, arguments, is said to have a complexity to them that is often hidden by the simplicity of their surface appearance. But, 只是因为表面之下有些东西很复杂, 我们不应否认简单的外部结构所带来的原始乐趣. It is often the immediate feelings one has on first encountering an idea or an object that can be the most emotionally and aesthetically resonate. Take, for example, a beautiful Italian sports car, a Ferrari: while we may never comprehend (or care to) the intricacies of mechanics, torque, 马力或空气动力学与汽车有关, the sight of such an exotic automobile on the street can fill us with feelings of wonder at the power it seems to possess, 对它的优雅和丰富的一种发自内心的或身体上的理解.
与汽车一样,艺术也是如此. 通常最强烈的艺术体验是对基本形式的反应, a simple gesture, a line, color. While complexity may lie beneath the surface, it is that surface that first captures us. So it is with the seventeen artworks brought together in this exhibition—they speak clearly as to what they are and how they were made. 无论是单独的还是一起的 Real Simple.
Several of the works in Real Simple 通过他们的手势抽象项目的简单性. Emblematic of this approach is House of Blues (1995),抒情抽象主义者玛丽·海尔曼的蓝色网格画. In this work Heilmann arranges an almost childlike series of blue grids to resounding affect. Similarly, works by Alex Olson, Laura Owens and Jon Pestoni are each gestural abstractions that offer punches of colorful power. Abstraction as a distillation of form is not limited in the exhibition to painting. In Michael E. Smith’s Untitled (2010), a garden hose is repurposed creating a form akin to a scribbled gesture on the wall. The act of abstracting an item from the everyday world is also the subject of Wolfgang Tillmans’ paper drop (glas). The simple idea of photographing a photograph curved in on itself is made riveting by the physicality of the subject.
展览中的其他几张照片本质上是肖像. One of the most basic uses of photography has often been to look at our fellow human’s visage. However, the works by Anne Collier, Roe Ethridge, and Saul Fletcher all add complicating gestures in their composition allowing for both simple and more obscure experiences. In Collier’s Songwriter (2004), for example, the subject obscures her or his face with an album cover held as to make the photograph on the record seem to stand in for that of the subject’s.
海莉·汤普金斯2001年的两幅作品都是基于肖像. Here, however, the artist has torn the images of young women out of magazines and then balled them up and held them in her fists for several days. The resulting wrinkled images become endowed with the artist’s energy and aura. Elizabeth Peyton, 她以描绘轻盈的年轻事物的小型画作而闻名, 她在2010年的作品中从事肖像创作 Flaubert in Egypt (After Delacroix). 虽然在主题上不一定简单, the work was drawn with the specific intention that it would be made as a multiple edition using one of the most basic methods, the Xerox.
也许最表面上简单的艺术生产形式是挪用, the taking of an image from one place and changing its meaning by placing it in a different context. Matthew Higgs’ two delightful works in the exhibition are each title pages removed from books then framed—they use an efficiency of labor to make witty verbal plays such as “Nostalgia Isn’t What It Used to Be.” Martin Creed in his work Don’t Worry (2001) spells out those very words in glowing yellow neon – a seemingly simple phrase that can mean so very many things is (literally) writ large.
Chris Ofili在他的作品中也提到了与Creed相同的感觉 The Chosen Ones (1995-96). 奥菲利在纸上画满了几十张小脸蛋的草图, not all smiling, 这些组合在一起就形成了一个粗糙的大笑脸. 就像这次展览中聚集的所有作品一样, it is simple and easy to react to, 去了解它是如何制作的,以及它给我们带来的感受. 虽然在所有的作品中都有许多问题在表面下沸腾, on the surface it is what it is, it’s real simple.
Anne Collier (b. 1970)安妮·科利尔的照片包含了发现的图像, such as magazine pages, record sleeves, and posters, 探索在媒体驱动的世界中感知和表现的概念. She is represented by Anton Kern Gallery in New York and has exhibited at Nottingham Contemporary, 英国和堪萨斯州的萨利纳艺术中心.
Martin Creed (b. 1968) Martin Creed uses modest materials in his work to make visually arresting, 对艺术与日常生活关系的诙谐评论. Creed的代表是Gavin Brown在纽约的企业, 曾参加世界各地的众多个展和群展, 并于2001年获得了英国著名的特纳奖.
Roe Ethridge (b. 1969)一位成功的商业摄影师, 埃斯里奇的图像散发出精确和清晰, 同时充分展示了媒介的表现力. Ethridge is represented by Andrew Kreps in New York and Gagosian Gallery in Los Angeles, and has exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.
Saul Fletcher (b. 1967) Saul Fletcher is known for the elusive and melancholic quality of his small- scale, intimate photographs. 弗莱彻仔细构思并构成他的图像中的每个细节, 并且经常合并他自己的家, himself, or a family member. 弗莱彻的代理是纽约的安东·科恩画廊, and his work has been exhibited at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburg and the Tate Modern in London.
Mary Heilmann (b. 1940) Mary Heilmann’s vibrant and joyful abstract paintings are noted for their saturated colors, lively treatment of space, and rhythmic compositions. Heilmann is represented by 303 Gallery in New York and has had major exhibitions at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York and Wexner Center for the Arts in Ohio.
Matthew Higgs (b. 1964) Artist, 策展人兼作家马修·希格斯(Matthew Higgs)是White Columns的现任馆长, 纽约市最古老的非营利性艺术空间. Higgs’ work often takes the form of framed book pages and covers acquired from second-hand stores. 纽约的Murray Guy代表希格斯.
Chris Ofili (b. 1968) Internationally acclaimed artist Chris Ofili explores themes of contemporary black culture, 参考广泛的影响, 从他自己的尼日利亚血统到津巴布韦的洞穴壁画,再到嘻哈英雄. 1998年,奥菲利被授予特纳奖, 2003年,他被选中代表英国参加威尼斯双年展. 他在纽约的代理律师是David Zwirner.
Alex Olson (b. 1978) The paintings by California- based artist Alex Olson possess a deep-rooted liveliness, evidenced through bursts of color, gestural lines, vigorous mark making, 或者像《买足彩app平台》(2010)那样,用指尖画出年轻的圆点。. Olson is represented by Lisa Cooley Fine Art in New York and Shane Campbell Gallery in Chicago.
Laura Owens (b. 1970) The work of Los Angeles- based artist Laura Owens uniquely blends abstraction and representation, 结合富有表现力的洗色, detailed line work, and romantic and whimsical imagery. 她的作品曾在几家著名博物馆展出, including the Kunstmuseum Bonn in Germany and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. 她的代理律师是加文·布朗在纽约的企业.
Jon Pestoni (b. 1969) Jon Pestoni creates alluring abstractions through beautifully and thinly applied layers of paint. Exploring light and spatial tension, 他的画的表面随着不同层次的出现而呼吸, recede, and engage with one another. Pestoni的代理是纽约的Lisa Cooley Fine Art.
Elizabeth Peyton (b. 1965) Elizabeth Peyton’s distinctive portraits offer personal and intimate views of friends, family, and famous and historical figures, 以她标志性的风格用宝石般的色彩描绘. 她由加文·布朗的企业代理, and has exhibited at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York and Royal Academy in London.
Michael E. Smith (b. 1977年)以使用家用和城市材料而闻名. Smith’s sculptures, paintings, videos and installations speak to the urban condition of his hometown of Detroit. He is represented by Clifton Benevento in New York and has exhibited at the St. Louis Museum of Contemporary Art.
Wolfgang Tillmans (b. 1968年)德国摄影师沃尔夫冈·蒂尔曼斯以其多才多艺的风格而闻名, 通过一系列广泛的主题, 从抽象到看似随意的快照. 蒂尔曼斯在纽约的代理律师是安德里亚·罗森, and in 2000 he became the first photographer and non-English artist to be awarded the Turner Prize.
Hayley Tompkins (b. 1971) Hayley Tompkins’ small scale works on paper and sculptures touch upon experiences we encounter every day. 她的作品——无论是批量生产的, natural, 或发现包含有形的历史和揭示时间的流逝. She is represented by Andrew Kreps in New York and The Modern Institute in Glasgow.