The following images are from and exibition at Sixspace Gallery in Culver City, CA that opened in May of 2007. The installation of the tornado called the Great Storm of 1971 is an approx. 15 foot tall soft sculpture and is suspended from the ceiling. There were then strobelights lowered into the piece so that the flashes could be detected through the fabric and reflected onto the ceiling.
Deer In the Headlights 38 x 50" 2007 Collage, Color Pencil and Watercolor on Paper
Digging In 38 x 50" 2007 
Installation View of The Great Storm of 1971 Fabric, yarn, lace, strobelights and paint installed at Sixspace Gallery LA
Planned Community 38 x 50" 2007
The Year of Many Heavy Snowfalls 38 x 50" 2007 Collage, pencil and paint on paper
Karin Weiner's collages in So Many Daunting New Complexities reflect the contemporary experience by dealing with the reality and uncertainty of the present moment. The works depict various dissected and re-arranged situations and speculations about the future (whether that be utopian and/or apocalyptic) that act as evidence of the artist's questioning of convictions and strategies. The title of the exhibition comes from Weiner's relationship with society and nature by dealing with current affairs, environmental concerns, and the moral dilemma of living the way one desires without wanting to make an indelible mark. In particular, this new body of work stems from the her recent move from the urban environment of New York to the natural landscape of Vermont. While Weiner's previous work dealt with her pining for nature, her current work has become a response to being overwhelmed and surrounded by nature as she views it through her "city eyes."
The centerpiece of the exhibition is a large-scale installation of a tornado in the gallery; a vortex of fiber arts complete with streaming rain-showers and elements of debris. The traditionally viewed domestic/feminine craft materials she uses symbolize domestic security, bliss, and a sense of stability as well as represent the false sense of domestic security. By combining the concept of these materials with the destructive and mysterious nature of this natural disaster, one of the most powerful and uncontrollable, Weiner attempts to harness the power of craft and redirect its purpose.
Karin Weiner received her MFA from Hunter College in 2003 and recently relocated from Brooklyn, New York to Vermont. She has held solo exhibitions at ZieherSmith in New York, including the gallery's project for Art Rock 2006 at Rockefeller Center, and Lisa Boyle Gallery in Chicago as well as group exhibitions in New York, Boston, Chicago, and Vienna. Publications featuring reviews of her work include Frieze 101, The New Yorker, The Boston Globe, The New York Sun, The New York Times, and Artforum.com. So Many Daunting New Complexities marks Weiner's second showing with sixspace, the first being her Los Angeles debut in 2005 with the two-person exhibition Forecast and Conditions.
No comments:
Post a Comment