Adam Putnam
28 Apr - 26 May 2007
ADAM PUTNAM
Tempted by space.
A room fucking itself.
What happens when you stop being able to tell the difference between outside and
inside?
When the edge of your body dissolves into walls and mirrors?
When interiority is revealed?
People say it is all about sex and death...well, yeah, but... what is sexier than a corner?
A perfectly smooth ceiling? Clean tube socks on polished floors? Moldering attics and
damp basements? The space behind a cupboard? What could be more life threatening
than a vaulted arch? A nave? A collapsed atrium of a nameless factory or a high school
auditorium? Perhaps the erotic rests not in the depiction of bodies but in the depiction of
space. Perhaps it lies within the idea of perfection. For example: visualize the image (impossible to achieve), of a perfectly built, symmetrically flawless brick wall, where the
space between each identical brick, similar in every way, is the SAME. And as if that weren’t enough! Try to imagine a barely perceptible crack. (The thrill and the possibility of erosion and collapse.) How it forms is hard to say, could be anything, could be weather, or it could be destiny. The crack is the way in, however small.
I saw a marquee outside of an old brick church uptown — it said “When Darkness Becomes Desire” — it was the first time I ever wanted to go to church...
Maybe the show should just be called sneakerface.
Adam Putnam’s first solo show at Taxter & Spengemann fills both floors of the gallery with sculpture, works on paper, and photography. Previously he has exhibited at Andrew Kreps in New York and Sandroni Rey in Los Angeles. This June he will have a project room at PS1 and opening in May his work can be seen in Between the Two Deaths at ZKM, Karlsrhue. Previous group shows include: The Rabbit as King of the Ghosts, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York; Uncertain States of America, The Astrup Fearnley Museum for Modern Art, Oslo, The Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, and Serpentine Gallery, London; Plain of Heaven, Creative Time and Friends of the Highline, New York. Putnam received his MFA from Yale University in 2000 and his BFA from Parsons School of Design in 1995. For images and more information please contact daphne@taxterandspengemann.com.
Tempted by space.
A room fucking itself.
What happens when you stop being able to tell the difference between outside and
inside?
When the edge of your body dissolves into walls and mirrors?
When interiority is revealed?
People say it is all about sex and death...well, yeah, but... what is sexier than a corner?
A perfectly smooth ceiling? Clean tube socks on polished floors? Moldering attics and
damp basements? The space behind a cupboard? What could be more life threatening
than a vaulted arch? A nave? A collapsed atrium of a nameless factory or a high school
auditorium? Perhaps the erotic rests not in the depiction of bodies but in the depiction of
space. Perhaps it lies within the idea of perfection. For example: visualize the image (impossible to achieve), of a perfectly built, symmetrically flawless brick wall, where the
space between each identical brick, similar in every way, is the SAME. And as if that weren’t enough! Try to imagine a barely perceptible crack. (The thrill and the possibility of erosion and collapse.) How it forms is hard to say, could be anything, could be weather, or it could be destiny. The crack is the way in, however small.
I saw a marquee outside of an old brick church uptown — it said “When Darkness Becomes Desire” — it was the first time I ever wanted to go to church...
Maybe the show should just be called sneakerface.
Adam Putnam’s first solo show at Taxter & Spengemann fills both floors of the gallery with sculpture, works on paper, and photography. Previously he has exhibited at Andrew Kreps in New York and Sandroni Rey in Los Angeles. This June he will have a project room at PS1 and opening in May his work can be seen in Between the Two Deaths at ZKM, Karlsrhue. Previous group shows include: The Rabbit as King of the Ghosts, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York; Uncertain States of America, The Astrup Fearnley Museum for Modern Art, Oslo, The Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, and Serpentine Gallery, London; Plain of Heaven, Creative Time and Friends of the Highline, New York. Putnam received his MFA from Yale University in 2000 and his BFA from Parsons School of Design in 1995. For images and more information please contact daphne@taxterandspengemann.com.