John Pilson
02 Jun - 21 Jul 2007
JOHN PILSON
"Skyscraper Souls"
The Praz-Delavallade Gallery is pleased to announce the one man show it will devote to the New York artist, John Pilson from June 2 to July 21 ‘07.
Through video and photography, John Pilson conducts an exploration of the urban landscape and business architectural spaces, by focusing on the manner in which these places may shelter alternate lives.
He reveals a tension between the sterile and uniform environment of today’s work architecture and the random acts he brings into them. He plays with the contrast between the impersonal authority of the place and the intimate details brought into it by its occupants; the manner, indeed, in which human activity conflicts with the firm’s stablished order.
On the occasion of the publication of its catalogue, the show also presents an ensemble of photos drawn from the series Interregna.
Interregna, translated as “between reigns” refers to those periods during which authority is suspended, those times when structures, left to themselves, survive, and endeavor to impose their implacable norms. Anonymous workplaces appear here empty of their personnel, stressing the cold and impersonnal nature of the business environment with the omnipresent cubicle, complete with fake walls and pretend isolation and permanence. Yet, these images introduce another reality: details of intimate elements, which, in spite of all, personalize and liven up this disposable architecture.
The exhibit offers also a chance to showcase the artist’s video work through three pieces completed ‘03 and ‘07.
1. Sidewalk (‘03) is a three-channel installation where the camera slowly glides, hovering above New York’s sidewalks, to reveal a quasi hypnotic glimmer. Through the ordinary movements of urban daily life, such as the walking of city-dwellers, in the transit place the sidewalk represents, John Pilson reveals a world that oscillates between dream and reality. Urban space is dematerialized while the shadows of passers-by impress the contrasting, frenetic rythm of urban crowds’ activity.
2. In Alternate Endings (‘04), the artist visits the Saint Denis, a NewYork historically famous XIXth century building. As a hotel, it was visited by Abraham Lincoln; Lee Harvey Oswald briefly worked there; Alaexander Graham Bell gave the first public demonstration of his telephone at the Saint Denis; Marcel Duchamp kept there a secret atelier, where his last work, “Etant Donnees” (Givens) was found.
Using a construction lantern, slowly rising in the staircase, John Pilson progressively reveals, landing after landing, between light and shadow, the memories of this now forgotten place.
3. 500 (‘07) Inspired by the wild shifts from news to drama, sports to pornography that one experiences while flipping channels alone in a strange hotel room, “500”, presents a series of actions unfolding in room 500 of the Duncan Hotel in New Haven, CT. The artist took up residence in that room for two days, in April ‘07. He then invited friends, colleagues and relatives to visit him at regular intervals. During that time, the camera records a series of totally improvised actions, whose result is a mix of wistful reflexions and absurd scenes, where each protagonist behaves in a manner that is tatally out of sync with this transitory home.
Recently featured in the Centre Pompidou’s Cinema Prospectif series, John Pilson’s work will be featured this summer in Äutomatic Updated ̈opening on June 27th at the Museum of Modern Art, NYC and ̈ ̈The Shapes of Space ̈ opening June 15th at the Guggenheim Museum, NYC.
"Skyscraper Souls"
The Praz-Delavallade Gallery is pleased to announce the one man show it will devote to the New York artist, John Pilson from June 2 to July 21 ‘07.
Through video and photography, John Pilson conducts an exploration of the urban landscape and business architectural spaces, by focusing on the manner in which these places may shelter alternate lives.
He reveals a tension between the sterile and uniform environment of today’s work architecture and the random acts he brings into them. He plays with the contrast between the impersonal authority of the place and the intimate details brought into it by its occupants; the manner, indeed, in which human activity conflicts with the firm’s stablished order.
On the occasion of the publication of its catalogue, the show also presents an ensemble of photos drawn from the series Interregna.
Interregna, translated as “between reigns” refers to those periods during which authority is suspended, those times when structures, left to themselves, survive, and endeavor to impose their implacable norms. Anonymous workplaces appear here empty of their personnel, stressing the cold and impersonnal nature of the business environment with the omnipresent cubicle, complete with fake walls and pretend isolation and permanence. Yet, these images introduce another reality: details of intimate elements, which, in spite of all, personalize and liven up this disposable architecture.
The exhibit offers also a chance to showcase the artist’s video work through three pieces completed ‘03 and ‘07.
1. Sidewalk (‘03) is a three-channel installation where the camera slowly glides, hovering above New York’s sidewalks, to reveal a quasi hypnotic glimmer. Through the ordinary movements of urban daily life, such as the walking of city-dwellers, in the transit place the sidewalk represents, John Pilson reveals a world that oscillates between dream and reality. Urban space is dematerialized while the shadows of passers-by impress the contrasting, frenetic rythm of urban crowds’ activity.
2. In Alternate Endings (‘04), the artist visits the Saint Denis, a NewYork historically famous XIXth century building. As a hotel, it was visited by Abraham Lincoln; Lee Harvey Oswald briefly worked there; Alaexander Graham Bell gave the first public demonstration of his telephone at the Saint Denis; Marcel Duchamp kept there a secret atelier, where his last work, “Etant Donnees” (Givens) was found.
Using a construction lantern, slowly rising in the staircase, John Pilson progressively reveals, landing after landing, between light and shadow, the memories of this now forgotten place.
3. 500 (‘07) Inspired by the wild shifts from news to drama, sports to pornography that one experiences while flipping channels alone in a strange hotel room, “500”, presents a series of actions unfolding in room 500 of the Duncan Hotel in New Haven, CT. The artist took up residence in that room for two days, in April ‘07. He then invited friends, colleagues and relatives to visit him at regular intervals. During that time, the camera records a series of totally improvised actions, whose result is a mix of wistful reflexions and absurd scenes, where each protagonist behaves in a manner that is tatally out of sync with this transitory home.
Recently featured in the Centre Pompidou’s Cinema Prospectif series, John Pilson’s work will be featured this summer in Äutomatic Updated ̈opening on June 27th at the Museum of Modern Art, NYC and ̈ ̈The Shapes of Space ̈ opening June 15th at the Guggenheim Museum, NYC.