Melissa Gordon
12 Apr - 24 May 2008
MELISSA GORDON
"War of the Ghosts"
Galerie Juliette Jongma is pleased to present the second solo exhibition by the American artist Melissa Gordon (1981, lives and works in Berlin).
'War of The Ghosts' explores the collapse of democratic systems of governance. Paintings utilizing images appropriated from newspapers and depictions of pre-Modernist architects and social planners are presented on structures that reference stylized diagrams of systems of governance, barricades and placards. Gordon's work examines the incubation of opposing autocratic and utilitarian systems of control as presented in the media and publications of the time.
Taking inspiration from the designs of Mies van der Rohe, and the illustrated manifestos of Le Corbusier, ‘Model for Function vs. Dysfunction’ (2008) is a sculptural assemblage of double sided painted panels which, on one side, are adorned with images of ‘pure’ ingredients - the sky, earth, glass, stone and wood - over-which are painted terms that describe social dysfunction. On the reverse sides are images illustrating the function of a citizen in society free in movement, speech, economy, and place.
Other works reference the designs of social planners such as Christopher Alexander, Paul Goodman, Paolo Soleri and Le Corbusier. A large, fence-like, assemblage takes inspiration from Christopher Alexander’s essay ‘A City is Not a Tree’ (1968). It is adorned on one side with images found in Chilean, German, Italian and Russian newspaper archives whilst the other presents painted texts by social planners and architects.
The exhibition is accompanied by a 'reader,’ ‘War of the Ghosts’, in which seven variations of the same Native American folk tale are retold, following a psychological experiment conducted by Sir Frederic Bartlett in the 1920's.
Gordon's work has previously dealt with the legacy of the heritage of feminist art production, controversial, female politicians such as Indira Ghandi and Margaret Thatcher, as well as historic museum displays that chronicle the passage of private collections to public institutions and the advent of an interest in the ‘other’. Gordon’s work can be characterized as exploding difficult, closed histories to expand our understandings of them.
Melissa Gordon was an artist in residence at De Ateliers in Amsterdam. She has recently been included in “Dealing with Reality” at Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Arnhem, and “Compilations III” at the Kunsthalle, Dusseldof. The artist held solo exhibitions at Galerie Michael Cosar in Düsseldorf and Ancient & Modern in London in 2006 and 2007 retrospectively. In 2007 she was the recipient of the ABN AMRO Kunstprijs. Now based in Berlin, her work will be included in The Prague Trie
"War of the Ghosts"
Galerie Juliette Jongma is pleased to present the second solo exhibition by the American artist Melissa Gordon (1981, lives and works in Berlin).
'War of The Ghosts' explores the collapse of democratic systems of governance. Paintings utilizing images appropriated from newspapers and depictions of pre-Modernist architects and social planners are presented on structures that reference stylized diagrams of systems of governance, barricades and placards. Gordon's work examines the incubation of opposing autocratic and utilitarian systems of control as presented in the media and publications of the time.
Taking inspiration from the designs of Mies van der Rohe, and the illustrated manifestos of Le Corbusier, ‘Model for Function vs. Dysfunction’ (2008) is a sculptural assemblage of double sided painted panels which, on one side, are adorned with images of ‘pure’ ingredients - the sky, earth, glass, stone and wood - over-which are painted terms that describe social dysfunction. On the reverse sides are images illustrating the function of a citizen in society free in movement, speech, economy, and place.
Other works reference the designs of social planners such as Christopher Alexander, Paul Goodman, Paolo Soleri and Le Corbusier. A large, fence-like, assemblage takes inspiration from Christopher Alexander’s essay ‘A City is Not a Tree’ (1968). It is adorned on one side with images found in Chilean, German, Italian and Russian newspaper archives whilst the other presents painted texts by social planners and architects.
The exhibition is accompanied by a 'reader,’ ‘War of the Ghosts’, in which seven variations of the same Native American folk tale are retold, following a psychological experiment conducted by Sir Frederic Bartlett in the 1920's.
Gordon's work has previously dealt with the legacy of the heritage of feminist art production, controversial, female politicians such as Indira Ghandi and Margaret Thatcher, as well as historic museum displays that chronicle the passage of private collections to public institutions and the advent of an interest in the ‘other’. Gordon’s work can be characterized as exploding difficult, closed histories to expand our understandings of them.
Melissa Gordon was an artist in residence at De Ateliers in Amsterdam. She has recently been included in “Dealing with Reality” at Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Arnhem, and “Compilations III” at the Kunsthalle, Dusseldof. The artist held solo exhibitions at Galerie Michael Cosar in Düsseldorf and Ancient & Modern in London in 2006 and 2007 retrospectively. In 2007 she was the recipient of the ABN AMRO Kunstprijs. Now based in Berlin, her work will be included in The Prague Trie