Set Pieces. Cardi Black Box. Milan
An exhibition in Milan, of Los Angeles-based artists - Set Pieces invites four artists; Sarah Cain, Liz Glynn, Samara Golden and Mateo Tannatt to build sets for their work and the work of other artists. The sets will all be staged as ‘islands of light’ within an otherwise darkened gallery space enhancing the cinematic and theatrical artifice and playing with the mythology of Los Angeles - a place in which imagination and staged reality seep into society in a particular way. The hosted also becomes the host – the artists are free to choose how they create their ‘set’ and invite other artists work to be hosted within that space. Here, there is no special autonomy for individual artworks, just autonomous zones created by the four artists.
The curators, Andrew Berardini and Lauren Mackler, say they were influenced by the work of William Leavitt who recently mounted his first solo exhibition, Theatre Objects, at MOCA in Los Angeles in which he used ‘plays and their stages to beautifully reveal the mundane theatricality of the city’. The exhibition, which brought together over 90 paintings, works on paper, photographs and performance documentation from the last 40 years, was also accompanied by a programme of Leavitt’s stage performances, for example Spectral Analysis (1977), which was performed within the exhibition space – using other installed works as their set and stage.
If you happen to be in Milan in the coming weeks I recommend you visit what promises to be an interesting show in terms of conception, design and execution. Images to follow.
Exhibiting artists include: Scoli Acosta, Kathryn Andrews, Matthew Brannon, Mary Corse, Zoe Crosher, Aaron Curry, Erik Frydenborg, Friedrich Kunath, Eli Langer, William Leavitt, Anthony Lepore, Carter Mull, Claire Nereim, Raymond Pettibon, and Amanda Ross-Ho.
Set Pieces opens on Thursday 7th February and runs until April 2013.
Cardi Black Box. Corso di Porta Nuova. 38 - 20121 Milano. Italy.
