32...2928 hans josephsohn 23 untitled, (lola),998 1 brass.dition e of 6 + 2ap 1378 x 7 x 48 cm (54 x...
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32 CecilyBrown
54
76
98
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Cecily Brown
2Untitled (#11), 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)
3Untitled (#19), 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)
4Untitled (#22), 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)
5Untitled (#20), 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)
6Untitled, 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)
7Untitled, 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)
8Untitled (#95), 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)
9Untitled (#60), 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)
10Untitled (#86), 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)
11Untitled (#96), 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)
12Untitled (#97), 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)
13Untitled (#98), 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)
14Girl Eating Birds,2004Oilonlinen,triptych195.6x419.1cm(77x165in)overall
16Suddenly Last Summer,1999Oilonlinen254x279.4cm(100x110in)
18Aujourd’hui Rose,2005Oilonlinen195.6x139.7cm(77x55in)
2322 HansJosephsohn
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Hans Josephsohn
23Untitled, (Lola),1998Brass.Editionof6+2AP137x78x48cm(54x30¾x19in)
24Untitled,1985Brass.Editionof6+2AP58x25x19cm(22¾x9½x7½in)
25Untitled,2004Brass.Editionof6+2AP68x204x65cm(26¾x80¼x25½in)
26Untitled,2000Brass.Editionof6+2AP29x88x30cm(11½x34¾x11¾in)
27Untitled, (Lola),1996Brass.Editionof6+2AP143x80x76cm(56½x31½x30in)
28Untitled,1995/1996Brass.Editionof6+2AP160x96x63cm(63x37¾x24¾in)
3332 ShaunMcDowell
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3938
4140
4342
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42Untitled,2009Oilstickonboard119x157cm(47x61¾in)
43Untitled,2009Oilstickonboard119x157cm(47x61¾in)
44Untitled,2009Oilstickonboard119x157cm(47x61¾in)
45Untitled,2009Oilstickonboard119x157cm(47x61¾in)
46Untitled,2008–2009Oilonboard119x90cm(46¾x35½in)
47Untitled,2008–2009Oilonboard119x90cm(46¾x35½in)
48My Yard, My Horse,2007–2008Acryliconboard60x60cm(23¾x23¾in)
Shaun McDowell
33Untitled,2008Acryliconboard91.5x61cm(36x24in)
34Untitled,2008Acryliconboard91.5x61cm(36x24in)
35Untitled,2008Acryliconboard91.5x61cm(36x24in)
36Untitled,2008Acryliconboard91.5x61cm(36x24in)
37Untitled,2008Acryliconboard91.5x61cm(36x24in)
38Untitled,2008Acryliconboard91.5x61cm(36x24in)
39Untitled,2008Acryliconboard91.5x61cm(36x24in)
40Untitled,2008Acryliconboard91.5x61cm(36x24in)
41Untitled,2008Acryliconboard91.5x61cm(36x24in)
5352 KatyMoran
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Katy Moran
52Salter’s Ridge,2007Acryliconcanvas46x38cm(18x15in)
53Sick Boy,2006Acryliconcanvas46x38cm(18x15in)
54Take me to Barbados,2007Acryliconcanvas30.5x41cm(12x16in)
55Lazy Wears Blue,2007Acryliconcanvas46x38cm(18x15in)
56Volestere,2007Acryliconcanvas38x46cm(15x18in)
57Meeting in Love,2007Acryliconcanvas38x46cm(15x18in)
58Daniel,2008Acryliconcanvas46x38cm(18x15in)
59Nature Boy,2007Acryliconcanvas38x46cm(15x18in)
60Ledger,2008Acryliconcanvas38x46cm(15x18in)
61Lady Things,2009Acrylicandcollageoncanvas(framed)59.8x51.4cm(23½x20in)
62Whistan,2008Acryliconcanvas60x30cm(23¾x11¾in)
6766 MaaikeSchoorel
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7574
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Maaike Schoorel
66Still life with flowers and tea lights,2009Oiloncanvas65x85cm(25¾x33½in)
68Emma-Louise on her Bed,2008Oiloncanvas135x186cm(53¼x73¼in)
71Roger h.,2009Oiloncanvas60x50cm(23¾x19¾in)
72The garden,2009Oiloncanvas3panels,each185x127cm(72¾x50in)
75Emma-Louise in front of her dressing mirror,2009Oiloncanvas190x140cm(75x55¼in)
76Edwin in bed,2009Oiloncanvas70x65cm(27½x25¾in)
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Visible Invisible: Against the Security of the Real
EditedbyZibaArdalandeWeck
02 Cecily Brown23 Hans Josephsohn33 Shaun McDowell53 Katy Moran66 Maaike Schoorel
83 Foreword
85 ZibaArdalandeWeck
Visible Invisible: Against the Security of the Real93 TomMorton
I Am What You Are ...99 ListofWorksintheExhibition
103 ArtistBiographies
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Foreword
Itisoftensaidthatcontemporaryartisdifficulttoun-derstand. I wonder whether one should instead ask:howoughtwedigdeepintoourselvestounderstandourownfeelingsandsensations?
Indeed,theincreasinglyfreneticpaceofcontem-porarylifeandexcessiveattentiontothesuperficialhastosomeextentdampenedourcuriosityaboutlife.Maintainingalivelycuriositytakestime,whichmakesitsomethingofaluxury.Nowadays,weexpectevery-thingtobereadilyavailableandconsumable.Insuchaworld,artistshavebecomeincreasinglyresponsibleforchallengingusandforshowingusfreshwaysofperceivingreality.Thismightexplainwhycontempo-raryartcansometimesbedifficult;itsimplytakestimetounderstandaworkofart.Artistsoftodayhavebe-comeastuteandsophisticatedreadersoftheirenviron-ment.Evenwhentheyareapparentlydepictingreality,theyhavesurelygotsomethingelseinmind.Itispre-ciselyinthiscontextthattheexhibitionVisible Invisible: Against the Security of the Realwasconceivedandexecuted.Theworkofthefouryoungerpainters–CecilyBrown,ShaunMcDowell,KatyMoranandMaaikeSchoorel–is shown alongside sculptures by Hans Josephsohn,anartistfromanearliergeneration.Seentogether,theseworkselicitinusaneedtotakeourtimeinlookingatthem,tothink,andtoconsidertheminother,ifim-probable,situations.
Iamindebtedtoalltheartists,whosoreadilyandenthusiasticallyacceptedmyinvitationtoshowtheir works in this group exhibition. It has been apleasuretoworkwitheachandeveryoneofthemonthisenergisingproject.
Myimmensegratitudegoestothelenders,whokindlyagreedtolendustheirbelovedworks.Withouttheir generosity this exhibition could not have cometogether.
TomMortondeservesaspecialnoteofthanksforhisenthusiasticagreementtocontributehisthoughts
on this exhibition. His insightful essay offers us anexpansivepointofviewinrelationtotheworksandisitselfarealenrichmentofthispublication.
Asthesolenot-for-profitinstitutioninthisdi-verseareaofLondon,Parasolunit’srolesandresponsi-bilities have grown tremendously over the last fewyears.Toaccomplishallitsdutiestothehighestpossiblestandard, Parasol unit is increasingly dependent onthegoodwillandgenerosityofotherinstitutionsandindividuals. For this specific project, Parasol unit isgratefultotheEmbassyoftheKingdomoftheNether-lands,andtotheMondriaanFoundation,Netherlands.
Fortheirunfailingassistanceonthisproject,Iwouldalso liketothankparticularlyHannahBarry,RebeccaSternthalfromtheGagosianGallery,GregorMuir from Hauser&Wirth, Maureen Paley, ModernArt/StuartShaveandAndreaRosenGallery,NewYork,aswellasAnnetteSieverfromDeichtorhallen,HamburgandAileenAgopianfromPhillipsdePury,NewYork.
Asalways,HelenWire’seditingskillwasagreatasset,andthedesignanditsexecutionbyMarcKappelerand Markus Reichenbach has once again been bothcreativeandflawless.Ithankthemfortheircontinuingcreations.
ThedevotionofthestaffatParasolunitisremark-ableandIamthankfultoRachelAssaf,AshaBurchett,NataliaMariaPietrzakandNickSanders,aswellastoour internAlex Bellemore and the gallery assistants,allofwhomensuretheexperienceofviewingeachex-hibitionatParasolunitisamemorableoneforvisitors.
ZibaArdalandeWeckDirector/Curator
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ZibaArdalandeWeck
Visible Invisible: Against the Security of the Real
1 Deleuze,Gilles,Francis Bacon: The Logic of Sensation,NewYorkandLondon:Continuum,2003,p.25.2 Deleuze,Gilles,ibid,xiv.3 Merleau-Ponty,Maurice,andJeanPaulhan,The World of Perception,LondonandNewYork:RoutledgeClassics,2008,p.41.4 Gasquet,Joachim,Cézanne,Paris:Bernheim-Jeune,1926,pp.130–31.5 Braque,GeorgesNotebooks 1917–1947,trans.S.Appel-baum,NewYork:Dover,1971,p.22.6 Klee,Paul,Deleuze on Music, Painting and the Arts,NewYork:Routledge,2003,p.44.
There are two ways of going beyond figuration (that is, beyond both the illustrative and the figurative): either toward abstract form or toward Figure. Cézanne gave a simple name to this way of the Figure: sensation.1
The French philosopher Gilles Deleuze (1925–1995)elaboratedonthatbysayingthefigureactsonthe human nervous system, which is of the flesh,whereas abstract form addresses the head, which isclosertothebone.ButinhiswritingsDeleuzeaimedto draw parallels between the way Paul Cézanne andFrancisBaconbothperceivedandpaintedtheworld:painted sensation. Reflecting on this, we could saythatalthoughbothCézanneandBaconpaintedseem-ingly recognisable images, their works actually haveabstract qualities. Indeed, Cézanne was acclaimed bysome as a great abstract painter. Both Cézanne andBaconmasterfullymaintainedafinelinebetweenfig-urationandabstractionintheirpainting,somethingthat probably was and still is what countless artistsstrive for. There is good reason for Deleuze, in hisprefacetotheEnglisheditionofhisbookonFrancisBacon,tohavewritten:The abandonment of simple figura- tion is the general fact of Modern painting and, still more, of painting altogether.2Hewasreferringnotonlytoartists’subjectivefeelings,butalsotothemetaphysicalforces.
AfewdecadesearliertheFrenchwriterandlit-erary critic, Jean Paulhan (1884–1968) had written:the space of Modern painting is space which the heart feels,
space in which we too are located, space which is close to us and with which we are organically connected.3
Asoneofthemostsignificantliteraryfiguresofthefirsthalfofthetwentiethcentury,andachampionof Cubist painting, Jean Paulhan well knew what heintendedtoexpressintheabove.HeclearlymeantthatModernpainterswerestrivingtocaptureoncanvasthefeelofperceptualexperienceinwaysthatwouldulti-matelyallowviewerstoparticipateintheirdiscoveries.Thiswasadeparturefromsimplyrenderingtheworldaccordingtothelawsofgeometricalperspective,ashadbeendoneinthepast,whichendowedpaintingswith a genteel and peaceful look but excluded bothpainterandviewerfrombecominginvolvedintheper-ceptualexperience.Thisiswhycontemporarypaintingisoftendifficultforviewersatlargetounderstandandwhytheexperienceofdiscoveringitcanbebothhighlychallenging and exhilarating. Cézanne said that thepaintertakesholdofafragmentofnatureand:makes it entirely painting.4GeorgeBraquestatedthatpaintingdoesnotstriveto:reconstitute an anecdotebutratherto constitute a pictorial event.5PaulKleethought:the object of painting is not to render the visible – to reproduce visual entities – but to render visible, to make visible that which is not visible, the forces that play through the visible.6
Thenineteenth-centuryinventionofphotogra-phywasnodoubteventuallyinstrumentalinfreeingpaintersfromtheiroftenillustrativeanddocumentaryoccupation. Artists were finally able to take on thechallengeofthepictorialspaceoftheircanvas.Indeed,untilthetwentiethcentury,atnotimeinthehistoryofarthadartiststriedandsucceededinbreakingwithfigurationinsuchimaginativewaysand,paradoxically,theyoftendidsobyelevatingitsstatus.Thetemptationtorenderfigureshasbeenandremainsirresistibletoartists.Cubism,Fauvism,ExpressionismandFuturismallofferednewopportunitiesforrenderingtheper-ceptualworld,andforsomeyearsthedevelopmentofAbstractpaintingwasaradicalchallengetofiguration,
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butforthelastfewdecadeslatergenerationsofartistshave revived and focused on it even more intensely.Artistsinourowntimeareextremelysensitivetotheirsurroundings;andasweallaretheyareinundatedbyimageryintheireverydaylife.Deleuzemayhavebeenrightwhenhewrote:It would be a mistake to think that the painter works on a white and virgin surface. The entire surface is already invested virtually with all kinds of clichés, which the painter will have to break with.7
Morethantheinventionofphotography,artistswereprobablyalsoinfluencedbythemanychangesintheperceptionoftheworldandineveryfieldandas-pect of life, such as advances in science, philosophyand psychology. One of the most important thinkersand creative philosophers of the twentieth century,MauriceMerleau-Pontywrotethat:In modernity, we have a representation of the world which excludes neither fissures nor lacunae, a form of action which is unsure of itself, or, at any rate, no longer blithely assumes it can obtain universal assent.8Thisclearshiftfromtheclassicalworldviewissomething that distinguishes our time and societyfromthatofthepast.Merleau-Pontylaterelaboratedthat:one of the great achievements of modern art and philos-ophy ... has been to allow us to rediscover the world in which we live, yet which we are always prone to forget.9
Since the beginning of the twentieth century,laymanandartistalikehavebecomeacutelyconsciousoftheirsenses.Thereisnodoubtthenthatseveralim-portantthinkersandphilosophershavepaidparticu-larattentiontotheworkofCézanne.Forhimtheactofpaintingwasaboutsensing(le sentir)thevisualex-perienceandthatishowCézannewasabletoshowanewwayofperceivingandrenderingreality,whereob-jectsarenotallvisuallyattendedtoatonetime,fromonepointofview.Rather,hesawtheperceivedworldasstructuredbyapluralityofoverlappingperspectiveswithin which different aspects are somehow all seentogetherasaspectsoftheoneworld.Itisalsothanksto Cézanne’s groundbreaking work that subsequentgenerationsofartistscouldexplorenewwaysofper-ception that led to art movements such as Cubism,Fauvism,Expressionism,Futurism,andothers.LaterinthecenturyFrancisBaconwasheraldedastheartist,whoreassumed the entire problem of painting after Cézanne.10ItisthereforeinasimilarveinthatweneedtoseetheworkofartistssuchasArshileGorky,WillemdeKooningandPhilipGuston,allofwhomclearlysearchedforandfoundnewwaysoffiguration.Andalongsuchlinesofthoughtweoughtalsotoconsidertheworksofthefiveartists,CecilyBrown,HansJosephsohn,Shaun
McDowell, Katy Moran and Maaike Schoorel, shownintheexhibitionVisible Invisible: Against the Security of the Real.
None of the works by these artists representsperceivedrealityperse,ratherbyhoveringsomewherebetweenfigurationandabstractiontheyopenupnewareasofpossibility.Whileeachartist’sinspirationandthe resulting art works are distinctly different, seentogetheralltheseworksshareanindisputablematerialpresence and exhibit an intriguing dynamism thatnotonlyintensifiestheviewer’ssenseofperceptionbut also prompts an active exchange with them. Insuchanexperiencetheartistandviewergoindifferentdirections: the artist dissolves reality through theirsensesintosignsthattheviewereitherhastoputbacktogethertorecreateitor,betterstill,simplyexperiencesthe emotion expressed by the work.Also inherent intheseworksisthattheysometimesappeartobethere-sultofaccident–afewtouchesofpaintonthesupportorsomegesturesofhandonplastermighttransformtheworkandopenupotherareasoffeeling.Allthesecharacteristics add a temporal element or a perform-ancemoodtotheworksandpromptotherlayersofenergywithinthem.
Cecily Brown’s dynamic paintings are so eventfulthattheycouldalmostbeconsideredashappenings.Theyareinformedandinspiredbyaperfusionofim-agery, mainly from the art of the past, but also fromeverydaylife.Ithasoftenbeenwrittenthatthesourcematerial for her work could be anything, from thefleshlyeroticpaintingsbyRubens,Titian,Tintoretto,Poussin,Breughel,Boucher,Fragonard,Goya,Hogarth,Fuseli,PhilipGuston,WillemdeKooning,tothepor-nographicandcomicimageryincontemporarymedia.Brown’s large paintings are usually densely packedandlayeredwithenergeticbrushstrokesofvividandsaturatedcolours,frequentlyinhuesofredandfleshtonesthatvirtuallyburstoutofthecanvas.Herworkis known to contain figures and, indeed, her earlierpaintings were loaded with recognisable imagery ineroticposes.Appearinginthe1990s,thesecouldhavebeenconsideredasacontinuationofthe1980sexpres-sivepaintingsofartists,suchasEricFischl,DavidSally,andtoacertainextentMalcolmMarley,andperhapsoftheGermanNeo-Expressionistpaintings.However,intheirmorerecentdevelopments,Brown’spaintings,while maintaining a foothold in figuration, increas-inglyapproachthethresholdofabstraction.Intheseworksthemostimportantandrelevantissuesseemtobethestructureofthepainting:thewayBrownhan-dlesthepictorialspace,therelationshipbetweenthefigure and background, her ability to deal with theensuingtensionandfinallythebalancebetweenthesensationgeneratedbyvarioushuesofacolour.Viewerstendtoengagefullywiththisnewparadigm,having
7 Deleuze,Gilles,Francis Bacon: The Logic of Sensation,NewYorkandLondon:Continuum,2003,p.8.8 Merleau-Ponty,Maurice,The World of Perception,NewYorkandLondon:RoutledgeClassics,2008,p.78.9 Merleau-Ponty,ibid.,p.6.10 Deleuze,Gilles,Francis Bacon: The Logic of Sensation,NewYorkandLondon:Continuum,2003,p.xiii.
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little choice but to look and experience the world asexpressedbyBrown.Herpaintings,constantlyonthevergeoftippingfromabstractionintofiguration,areacelebrationofpaint.Toviewthemistohaveanover-whelmingly visceral experience. Of her concept ofpaintingBrownhassaid:I think that painting is a kind of Alchemy ... the paint is transformed into image, and hopefully paint and image transform together into a third and new thing ... I want to catch something in the act of becoming something else, not in the sense of it becoming a leg or a tree or whatever, but something hard to name. Maybe that is why I am so inclined to stop short of letting things become a complete leg or tree, why I don’t want things completely described.11
Maaike Schoorel’sworksarealsoinspiredbyexistingimagery,butunlikeBrownwhobuildsonsourceim-agerytocreateherpaintings,Schoorelparesdowntoaminimumhersourceimagery–oftenphotographsofpeoplesheknows–tocreatenewandfreshimages.Herpaintingsarecharacterisedbyanapparentblanknessofthecanvasonwhichaslightwashofpink,yelloworeven white is just discernible and sparse touches ofpaint,ofteninthepalestofpastelcolours,alternatewithareasofemptiness.ReadingSchoorel’spaintingsrequiresastuteobservation,becausethesedabsofcol-ourbarelyhintattheformoroutlineofanobject.Thisisparticularlysoinherrecentpaintingsbut,paradox-ically,withprolongedviewingtheimagebecomeslegi-ble. It is unlikely that the artist is concerned simplywithobligingviewerstolookatherworklongenoughtodecipherit.Onthecontrary,byworkinginthiswaySchoorel comments on our sensibility to perceptualexperiences which we have long taken for granted.Throughthissubtleandsophisticatedmannerofpaint-ing Schoorel forces viewers to take the time to slowdown,toexperiencethepainting,andtobecomeawarenotonlyofthematerialityofpaintbutalsoofthemanywaystherearetorenderreality.Indoingso,weareonceagainremindedthatlesscanbemore.
OfherwayofworkingSchoorelhassaid:The im-ages in our contemporary visual culture have come to look very much alike. Our ability to distinguish them seems to be growing less and less important. ... I play with the phenome-non of reduction, but at the same time, I also believe in a new image that stands in its own time, and in that sense, is no longer about loss.12
Katy Moran’spaintingsareexecutedwithsuchspon-taneousgesturesofenergyandfluiditythatitisdifficulttothinkthattheyhavetheirroots infoundimagery,evenmoresobecausethesecanvasesaresosmall,mostoften38x46cm(15x18in).Moranusuallyplacesthese
small canvases on the floor and works the paint onthemuntilaformtakesshape.Theseshapesmaynotrepresentanythingrealbuttheydoexcitetheviewer’scuriosity.Theintimacyandclosenesstocanvasmakestheexperienceverylikelookingatadrawinginwhichtheartist’sthoughtsandemotionshavebeenhighlyinvolvedinthecreativeprocess.LookingatMoran’spaintings,Icanwellimaginethatsheusessourceim-agespurelyasreference,becauseherbrushworkissostrongandassuredthatthecreatedimagebecomesto-tally autonomous. In Moran’s paintings, as in thosebyotherartistsinthisexhibition,thereisaconstantexchangebetweenabstractionandfigurationandthemostsuccessfulworksarethoseinwhichthetensionbetween them is at its zenith. Moran’s paintings areextraordinarilyexpressiveanddespitetheirsmallsizethey have the commanding presence of much largerpaintingsandrequirelargeareasofwallspaceinwhichto breathe. Assertive and independent, each of herpaintingsstrikesaboldanddirectrelationshipwiththeviewer,whilealludingtoascene,asituation,oraworldof other active possibilities. For all their spontaneityMoran’spaintingsalsohaveastrongformalelement:the imagery is usually centred on the canvas and thepictorialspaceusuallyresolved.Tohercreditsheisabletobalancealltheseelementsandofferusawealthofexperienceintheviewingofthem.
Shaun McDowellworksdirectlyfromthepercepti-bleworld–eitherfromamodelorfromnature–andtackleshismedium-andsmall-sizedboardswithcon-siderablefreedom,paintingordrawingonthemwithacrylic or oil stick to create works that are often in-spired by a situation. McDowell does not make pre-paratorydrawingsandpreferstolethimselfbeguidedby sensations that come to him in response to someexperience.The suggestive, freely drawn or paintedlines make the works burst with a pulsating energyand often belie the considerable amount of time theartist spends working on them. At first glance onemight see McDowell’s works as overall paintings be-causetheirimageryisspreadlikeafireworkacrossthewhole support, but in reality they do have a formalcomposition or structure. The pictorial space oftenbecomesastageonwhichsomesituationorexperienceisplayedout.Light,too,seemstoplayanimportantroleinMcDowell’spaintings,asisclearlyseeninhisUntitledpaintings(p.42–45)fromtheseriesofworksbasedonanudeinthelandscape.Inothers,Untitledpaintings(p.33–41) such as the nine paintings that make theConfession and Loveseries,onerecognisesartificialindoorlight.Eachofthesepaintings,inspiredbyhisrelation-shipwithhispartner,seemstosuggestanoccurrenceratherthanastaticdepictionofthemodel,althoughthe paintings contain no recognisable imagery. Thisdegreeofintimacyseemstobeanimportantcomponent
11 CorrespondencebetweentheartistandDrMacGiollaLeith,2005.12 Schoorel,Maaike.IngridCommandeurinMetropolis Magazine,No.6,December/January2006/7,p.93.
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of the work and perhaps contributes to the less thanformalcompositionofthepaintings.McDowell’spaint-ingsseemtobeatangibleexpressionofhisfeelingsandtheinspirationstimulatedinhimeitherbythemodelorthenaturalworld.Asviewersweundoubtfullypar-ticipateinthesensationsemanatingfromthem.
Hans Josephsohn, too,worksdirectlyfromnatureorfromamodeltocreatenotpaintingsbutsculptures,anddoessowithoutpreliminarydrawingsorphoto-graphicreferences.Thishasprovidedhimwithcon-siderablefreedomandendowedhiswork,likethosebyMcDowell,withacertaindaringexpressiveness.AgainlikeMcDowell,Josephsohnworksfrommodels,usingpeopleheknowsorperhapswithwhomhehasarela-tionship.Suchadegreeofacquaintanceallowshimtomakediscoveriesinhisworkduringthemakingproc-ess, which would not otherwise have been possible.Yetagainandremarkably,theworksoftheseartistsdoesnotalwaysshowrecognisableindividuals.
Josephsohn’soeuvreisrootedexclusivelyinhisperceptionoftheworldaroundhimandalwaysdealswith the human form, particularly that of women.Theworksrefertoclassicalformsinsculpture,suchasfiguresstanding,walking,seated,orreclining,orsimplyincludethetorsoandhead.Bytheirverynaturetheyareendowedwithasenseoferoticism,buttheyalsohaveanexistentialistelementtothem.Oneisnotonlyimpressedbytherough,unpolishedandpower-ful presence of Josephsohn’s works, but also by thepresenceoftheartisthimselfandhishands.Wegetasenseofhimstillbeingthere,modellingandkneadingthemalleablematerial.Josephsohnisabornsculptor.Torecordhisimpressions,hedoesnotmakedrawingsbutrathercreatessmall,three-dimensionalsketchesinclay.Tableau-like,theyusuallyrepresentsomelifesitu-ation,andareappropriatelycalledRelief-sketchfigures.AnothergroupofworksarecalledSemi-figure(p.23,27–28)sculpturesandareusuallyslightlylargerthanlife-size and are worked in plaster. While creating them,Josephsohnaddsmaterialtothemwhereheconsiders
itnecessarytoachievetherightbalanceintheoverallform.Indeed,Josephsohn’sworkingmethodisthere-verse of that of Alberto Giacometti, who commonlysubtractedmaterialtoachievetheemaciatedappearanceofhissculptures.OnceJosephsohnhasfinishedaplas-terfigure,hehasitcastinbrass.Externally,hisworksappearroughandunfinished,butintheirproportionstheyareknowinglywellconsideredandtherelation-shipofmassandvolumeisinterestinglyprecise.
Josephsohn’ssemi-figuresculpturesoftenhavethe appearance of primitive and boulder-like objectsandhaveatimelessquality,almostasiftheybelongtoanancientcivilisationandhaveonlyrecentlybeenre-moved from an archaeological site and brought intothegallery.Theirremarkablepresencebearstestimonyto the artist’s intention to go beyond figuration pre-ciselybyelevatingit.Theirheavilychargedlookseemsimbued with feelings that may at any moment burstintoadiscernibleexpression,whileatthesametimeconfiningemotionswithintheirindefinableandmys-teriousforms.
InaccordwithDeleuze’sstatementatthebegin-ningofthisessay,alltheartistsinthisexhibitiongobeyondsimplefigurationintheirwork,eitherbyem-bracing abstraction or by elevating the possibilitieswithinfiguration.Nomatterwhatdirectiontheirworktakes,theyareallsofullyengagedwithitthatwhatevertheypaintorsculptisanexpressionofthefeelingsandsensations they receive from perceptual experience.Forthem,therefore,therelationshipoftheviewertotheirartandtheexperienceofviewingitisofprimeim-portance;somethingthatelevatestheroleoftheviewer.NotirrelevanthereiswhatMerleau-Pontywroteabouttheexperienceofart:So in the presence of a painting, it is not a question of my making ever more references to the sub-ject...Rather ... it is a matter of contemplating, of perceiving the painting by way of the silent signals which come at me ... from its every part, which emanate from the traces of paint set down on the canvas ... to form a tightly structured arrange-ment in which one has the distinct feeling that nothing is arbitrary ...13
13 Merleau-Ponty,Maurice,The World of Perception,NewYorkandLondon:RoutledgeClassics,2008,p.72.
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TomMorton
I Am What You Are ...
Paintedbetween1425and1428,Masaccio’sfrescoThe Holy Trinity, with the Virgin and Saint John and Donors inthechurchofSantaMariaNovellainFlorenceisper-hapsthefirstworkinWesternarttomakeuseofsys-tematiclinearperspective.Inthelowerportionofthefresco,askeleton(identifiedbysomearthistoriansasthatofAdam,theBiblicalfirstman)liesatopastonetomb,thewords‘IamwhatyouareandwhatIamyoushallbe’runningparalleltoitsprone,boneyform.Intheuppersection,symmetricallyarrayedinfrontofabarrel-vaultedroom,Masaccio’spatronBertodiBarto-lomeo del Bandeario and his wife kneel in prayer,whilebehindthemMaryandStJohnflankthecruci-fiedChrist,andGodtheFatherfloatsbehindHim,asthough to bear Him up to heaven. (It is notable thatthislevitatingfigureistheonlyoneinthefrescothatdoesnotfullyoccupytheillusionofthree-dimensionalspace. Ineffable deities, it is to be supposed, are mo-tionlessinmysteriousways.)The Holy Trinityis,byanymeasure,aworkmuchconcernedwithaccuratedepic-tion,somethingonlyunderlinedbyMary’sgesturingright hand, which invites us to observe the aching,all-too-human musculature of her dying son. But ifMarydrawsourattentiontotheempiricalworld,hercompanionatthecross’sbase,StJohn,lostincontem-plation of the mysteries of the Passion, points to arealmthat’smuchhardertocomprehend,letalonetomeasureortoverify.Masaccio’sfrescoisaboutthegapbetweentheknowableandtheunknowable,andhowitmightbebridgedbyhumaningenuity–iftodaywemightdepictmanwiththisdegreeofverisimilitude,itseemstoask,howsoonmightweknowthemindofGod?ForallThe Holy Trinity’smathematicalsophisti-cation,however,greatstretchesofitspaintedsurface(the front-facing casket, the altar, the plain wall thatruns alongside the fluted pilasters) proclaim not theillusion of a three-dimensional space occupied bythree-dimensional, naturalistically rendered figures,but flat panels of mottled, occasionally line-crazed
colour. It’s easy, of course, to dismiss these elementsofthefrescoasplayingnothingbutthemostmodestof supporting roles in achieving the finished piece,andofbeinginalllikelihoodnottheworkofMasacciohimself, but of some dim-witted assistant, not eventrustedtohighlightthefoldsofthekneelingpetition-ers’robes.Todothis,though,wouldbetoignoretheircarefulframing(eachoneoccupiesacarefullydelineat-edrectangle),andthedemandsthatrealizingevensuchseeminglyperipheralscenographyplacesonthepainterintermsofbalancingtone,formandline.Thesepanelsarenotrepresentationsofexistingblocksofstone,andnoraretheysimplystandardized‘stoneeffect’,ofthesortthatmightbeprintedonarolloflinoleum.Rather,theyareintheirownsmallwayabstractcompositions,resolved in themselves but also supporting a widerpictorialresolution.Readingagainthefresco’sinscrip-tion(setabovetheuncompromisingtwo-dimensionalfrontageofthetomb),Iidlywonderwhethertheymightdenotemorethanafamiliarmemento mori.‘IamwhatyouareandwhatIamyoushallbe’–eveninthisiconofperspectivallogicandtheillusionisticrenderingofreality, figuration and abstraction walk hand in un-steadyhand,intoashadowyfuture.
Curated by Ziba Ardalan de Weck, the exhibi-tionVisible Invisible: Against the Security of the Real bringstogether five contemporary artists whose works, asArdalan de Weck has written, do not represent ‘per-ceived reality per se [but...] by hovering somewherebetween figuration and abstraction [...] open up newareas of possibility’. Reading the title of the show,we’restruckbothbyitsoxymoronicyokingtogetherof the categories ‘Visible Invisible’ (which, we mightnote, correspond to the physical and metaphysicalrealms signposted by Mary and St John in The Holy Trinity),andbyitsambiguoususeoftheword‘security’,whichsummonsupthoughtsofontheonehandaper-hapsratherflattypeofsafety,andontheotherofcon-trol,exclusion,andtheerectionofamentalperimeter
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fencearoundperception.By‘thereal’,IsuspectArdalandeWeckisnotreferringtotheanywaydeeplyproblem-aticnotionof‘thestateofthingsastheyactuallyexist’,butrathertoaculturallyspecifictraditionofempiri-cism,perhapsbestsummedupinthefollowingpassagefromJamesBoswell’scelebratedbiographyThe Life of Samuel Johnson(1791):
‘Afterwecameoutofthechurch,westoodtalkingforsometimetogetherofBishopBerkeley’singenioussophistrytoprovethenonexistenceofmatter,andthateverythingintheuniverseismerelyideal.Iobserved,thatthoughwearesatisfiedhisdoctrineisnottrue,itisimpossibletorefuteit.InevershallforgetthealacritywithwhichJohnsonanswered,strikinghisfootwithmighty force against a large stone, till he reboundedfromit–“Irefuteitthus!”.’
Visible Invisible is not an exhibition about per-ceiving the world through the toe of one’s boot, butthroughthemoresensitiveinstrumentsofone’sheadand heart. If there is a commonality to the at timesvery different works on display here, it is that theyeachdemandofthevieweranactivepiecingtogetherand working through of an image or object. This isnot an enterprise that offers security (what adven-tures do?), but rather something far richer: the mak-ingandremakingofacorneroftheworldanew.
Based on photographs borrowed from familyalbumsor(moreoften)takenbytheartist,atfirstglancethe Dutch painter Maaike Schoorel’s canvases mightbemistakenforabstractcompositionsonpallidpastelgrounds.Slowly,however,theirfaintwashes,delicatebrushmarks,andoccasionalsmearsofthick,scumbledpigmentresolvethemselvesintotangiblemotifs:stilllifes,landscapedgardens,portraitsoffriendsandfel-lowartists,familygroups,maleandfemalenudes.Thetemporalitytheseworkspossessisnot,then,thatofthelens,withitsflashinginstantaneity,butthatofpaint-ingitself.WhileSchoorel’scanvasesdiscloselittlemorethanthesparestofdetails–theswellofabellyorthecurveofabackisnotsomuchdeclaredasrumoured,here–theyarenotanindexofanebbingmemory,oradisappeared past. Muted shades and blotted marksarematchedbynotesofbright,hotcolourandcraggypassagesofpaint,andforeveryformthatseemsclosetofadingoutofexistence,thereisanotherthatispre-ciselyarticulatedbyafewstrokesoftheartist’sbrush.The viewer doesn’t so much visually consume thesepaintingsasparticipateintheirassembly,aprocessthatbypasses the traditional scopic politics of figurativepaintinganddemandsamoreconceptuallyandemo-tionallynuancedwayofseeing.This‘wayofseeing’is perhaps most interestingly elicited in Schoorel’spaintings of female nudes. Central to the history ofWestern painting, this motif has been employed byartiststomanydifferentandoftencontradictoryends:asavehicleforallegory,eroticfantasy,formalexperi-
mentationandpoliticaloppressionandresistance.Farfrombeingrefugeesfromarthistory,theyoungwomeninSchoorel’sNudesseries–athomeintheirownapart-ments,andlostintheirownthoughts–belongtono-wherebutrighthere,rightnow.
Each measuring 91.5x61cm (36x24in), thenineacrylicpaintingsonboardinShaunMcDowell’s2008exhibitionConfessions and Love PicturesatHannahBarryGallery,London,werepaintedoverthecourseofaloveaffair,withtheartist’sgirlfriendpresentinhisstudio,asthoughtheworkofartwereaconduitthroughwhich the uneven intensity of a romance might flowbackandforth,orabarrierbetweentwopeopleintentonmakingandkeepingaconnection.Overwhelminglynon-figurative,theseworksneverthelessfeelasthoughtheymightatanymomenttipoverintoanurgenttypeofrepresentation,theirdaubedmarksseeminglydescrib-ingaproximatebody,tooclosetoseeinitsentirety,andtooclosenottotouch.(I’mremindedhereofWillemdeKooning’sWoman I,1950–52,andhowfarawaythatchilly,chillingmash-upofancientfertilitygoddessandfiftiespin-upfeelsfromthetendernessofMcDowell’sapproach.)InhisprefacetoLyrical Ballads(1802),WilliamWordsworthfamouslyremarkedthat:‘poetry[...]takesitsoriginfromemotionrecollectedintranquillity:theemotioniscontemplateduntilbyaspeciesofreactionthe tranquillity gradually disappears, and an emo-tion,kindredtothatwhichwasbeforethesubjectofcontemplation,isgraduallyproduced,anddoesitselfactually exist in the mind.’ McDowell’s Love PicturesdispensewithWordsworth’sfirststageofsolitarycalm,creatingacompellingindexofmasculineandartisticvulnerability.
ExcessiseverywhereinCecilyBrown’spaintings–intheirlargescale,theirthick,intenselyworkedsur-faces,theiroftenfranklysexualsubjectmatter,andthegrand larceny they perform on pop culture and thepaintingofthepast.Announcingtheirambitionwithbreezyself-confidence(TakeonTitianorAbstractEx-pressionismnow,thislateintheday?Butthenagain,hey,whynot...),theyaimforaresponsethatatonceacknowledges their playful art-historical gamesman-ship, while also cleaving to their brazen attempts atpainterlyseduction.Theirabundanceoflushlyappliedpigment, however, is at odds with their pared downapproach to figuration. As the artist has said: ‘I lovethewayFrancisBacontalkedaboutthegrinwithoutthecat,thesensationwithouttheboredomofitscon-veyance [...] I’ve always wanted to be able to conveyfigurativeimageryinakindofshorthandtogetitacrossinasdirectawayaspossible.Iwanttheretobeahumanpresence without having to depict it in full.’ In thecontextofVisible Invisible,Brown’sworkstressesthepossibilityofpaintingasasitenotforpinningdownamotif,asonemightabutterflytoaboard,butforitsconstant,flutteringbecoming.
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Brushy, layered, and characterized by a largely cooland earthy Walter Sickert-like palette occasionally re-lievedbyspotsofhotcolour,KatyMoran’ssmall-scalecanvasesandpaintingsonboardappeartobeforeveron the brink of representation, without ever quitecommittingtoit.Whatmightbenaturalforms–nest,petals,waves,rockformations–remainunsubstantiatedrumours,theirontologicalcredibilityfurtherunder-minedbythenamestheartistchoosestogiveherworks.Jaguar Nights(2008),Mrs E Blandy(2009),Short Legs ... I’m Coming(2008),Wasabi Without Tears(2007)–thesemightberespectivelythetitleofasweatythrillerandofaprimEdwardianportrait,anSMSmessagetoacutelynick-namedlover,andarevolutionaryhorseradishproduct.Whatevertheyreferto(andMoranremainstight-lippedonthissubject),theirobliquerelationshiptoherswirl-ingpassagesofacrylicisaneatjokeontherelianceweoftenplaceontextwhennegotiatingthevisual.Lan-guage,here,likepaint,isnotdescriptive,butevocative,providingglimpsesofpossibleworldsthatwemightnotfullymap,butwhosestrangeforcewecannothelpbutfeel.
ThemostseniorartistfeaturedinVisible Invisible,thePrussian-bornHansJosephsohnbeganstudyingsculptureinFlorencein1938attheageof18beforemoving,aheadoftherisingtideofanti-Semitism,toSwitzerlandwherehelivesandworkstoday.Sincethe
1950s,hisprinciplesubjecthasbeenthehumanform,something he conjures not from the stern stuff ofstone,withinwhich,asMichelangeloclaimed,sculp-tures await their liberation by the artist’s chisel, butfromplaster(whichislatercastinbrass)–amaterialthat, like paint, may be spontaneously removed andrestoreduntiltheworkreachesitsresolution.Joseph-sohnhasdescribedhissculpturesas‘self-enclosedfig-ures’,andlookingatthemtheyseemtobelongnottothe present but to some dim and distant moment inpre-history. While they resemble archaic idols, theyspeakofagodlessworld,inwhichthehumanbody–fortheartist,thesolerepositoryoftruth–mustbearalloflife’sinjuries,andinwhichdignitybornofstoi-cismistheonlycomfortonoffer.
Physiognomic detail in Josephsohn’s work isrough, blurred and bleary, and his sculptures seemalways a step away from sliding back into inchoatematter–itisonlybyanextremeactofwill,itseems,sustainedsecondtosecond,thattheirhumanityispre-served.Butiftheyresistchaos,theyalsoresistorder,orinArdalandeWeck’sformulation‘thesecurityofthereal’.Inthis,theyarenotalone.AswiththepaintingsofSchoorel,McDowell,BrownandMoran,Josephsohn’ssculpturesrequiretheviewertonegotiatetheirpresenc-esandabsences,theirgutteringmomentsoffiguration,tobringthemtovisibleandinvisiblelife.
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List of Works in the Exhibition
Unlessotherwisestated,allworksarereproducedbycourtesyoftherelevantArtist.Heightprecedeswidthprecedesdepth.
Cecily Brown
p.2Untitled (#11), 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)CollectionofCecilyBrown
p.3Untitled (#19), 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)CollectionofCecilyBrown
p.4Untitled (#22), 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)CollectionofCecilyBrown
p.5Untitled (#20), 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)CollectionofCecilyBrown
p.6Untitled,2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)CollectionofCecilyBrown
p.7Untitled,2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)CollectionofCecilyBrown
p.8Untitled (#95), 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)CollectionofCecilyBrown
p.9Untitled (#60), 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)CollectionofCecilyBrown
p.10Untitled (#86), 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)CollectionofCecilyBrown
p.11Untitled (#96), 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)CollectionofCecilyBrown
Shaun McDowell
p.33Untitled,2008Acryliconboard91.5x61cm(36x24in)Courtesyofaprivatecollection
p.34Untitled,2008Acryliconboard91.5x61cm(36x24in)Courtesyofaprivatecollection,London
p.35Untitled,2008Acryliconboard91.5x61cm(36x24in)Courtesyofaprivatecollection
p.36Untitled,2008Acryliconboard91.5x61cm(36x24in)Courtesyofaprivatecollection,London
p.37Untitled,2008Acryliconboard91.5x61cm(36x24in)Courtesyofaprivatecollection
p.38Untitled,2008Acryliconboard91.5x61cm(36x24in)Courtesyofaprivatecollection
p.39Untitled,2008Acryliconboard91.5x61cm(36x24in)CourtesyofCollectionSFA,Düsseldorf
p.40Untitled,2008Acryliconboard91.5x61cm(36x24in)CourtesyofCollectionSFA,Düsseldorf
p.41Untitled,2008Acryliconboard91.5x61cm(36x24in)Courtesyofaprivatecollection,London
p.42Untitled,2009Oilstickonboard119x157cm(47x61¾in)CourtesyofHannahBarryGallery
p.43Untitled,2009Oilstickonboard119x157cm(47x61¾in)CourtesyofHannahBarryGallery
p.12Untitled (#97), 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)CollectionofCecilyBrown
p.13Untitled (#98), 2006Oilonlinen43.2x31.8cm(17x12½in)CollectionofCecilyBrown
p.14Girl Eating Birds,2004Oilonlinen,triptych195.6x419.1cm(77x165in)overallCollectionofIrwinandJoanJacobs
p.16Suddenly Last Summer,1999Oilonlinen254x279.4cm(100x110in)CourtesyoftheRiccardoRossiCollection
p.18Aujourd’hui Rose,2005Oilonlinen195.6x139.7cm(77x55in)CollectionofCecilyBrown
Hans Josephsohn
p.23Untitled, (Lola),1998Brass.Editionof6+2AP137x78x48cm(54x30¾x19in)CourtesyHauser&Wirth
p.24Untitled,1985Brass.Editionof6+2AP58x25x19cm(22¾x9½x7½in)CourtesyHauser&Wirth
p.25Untitled,2004Brass.Editionof6+2AP68x204x65cm(26¾x80¼x25½in)CourtesyHauser&Wirth
p.26Untitled,2000Brass.Editionof6+2AP29x88x30cm(11½x34¾x11¾in)CourtesyHauser&Wirth
p.27Untitled, (Lola),1996Brass.Editionof6+2AP143x80x76cm(56½x31½x30in)CourtesyHauser&Wirth
p.28Untitled,1995/1996Brass.Editionof6+2AP160x96x63cm(63x37¾x24¾in)CourtesyHauser&Wirth
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p.44Untitled,2009Oilstickonboard119x157cm(47x61¾in)CourtesyofHannahBarryGallery
p.45Untitled,2009Oilstickonboard119x157cm(47x61¾in)CourtesyofHannahBarryGallery
p.46Untitled,2008–2009Oilonboard119x90cm(46¾x35½in)Courtesyofaprivatecollection
p.47Untitled,2008–2009Oilonboard119x90cm(46¾x35½in)Courtesyofaprivatecollection
p.48My Yard, My Horse,2007–2008Acryliconboard60x60cm(23¾x23¾in)CourtesyofMerrickd’Arcy-Irvine
Katy Moran
52Salter’s Ridge,2007Acryliconcanvas46x38cm(18x15in)Courtesyofaprivatecollection
53Sick Boy,2006Acryliconcanvas46x38cm(18x15in)CourtesyofTheMarioTestinoCollection
54Take me to Barbados,2007Acryliconcanvas30.5x41cm(12x16in)CourtesyoftheZabludowiczCollection
55Lazy Wears Blue,2007Acryliconcanvas46x38cm(18x15in)Courtesyofaprivatecollection,London
56Volestere,2007Acryliconcanvas38x46cm(15x18in)Courtesyofaprivatecollection,NewYork
57Meeting in Love,2007Acryliconcanvas38x46cm(15x18in)Courtesyofaprivatecollection,NewYork
p.76Edwin in bed,2009Oiloncanvas70x65cm(27½x25¾in)CourtesyMaureenPaley,London,andMarcFoxx,LosAngeles
Self-portrait sitting on a bed,2009Oiloncanvas133x176cm(52x69in)CourtesyMaureenPaley,London
58Daniel,2008Acryliconcanvas46x38cm(18x15in)PrivateCollection,SanFrancisco,courtesyAnthonyMeierFineArts.
59Nature Boy,2007Acryliconcanvas38x46cm(15x18in)CourtesyofCollectionofCarloBronziniVender,NewYork
60Ledger,2008Acryliconcanvas38x46cm(15x18in)CourtesyofDavidRobertsCollection,London
61Lady Things,2009Acrylicandcollageoncanvas(framed)59.8x51.4cm(23½x20in)CourtesyofKatyMoranandStuartShave/ModernArt,London
62Whistan,2008Acryliconcanvas60x30cm(23¾x11¾in)CourtesyofMarkandEmilyGoldstein
Maaike Schoorel
p.66Still life with flowers and tea lights,2009Oiloncanvas65x85cm(25¾x33½in)CourtesyMaureenPaley,London,andGalerieDianaStigter,Amsterdam
p.68Emma-Louise on her Bed,2008Oiloncanvas135x186cm(53¼x73¼in)CourtesyofTheMarioTestinoCollection
p.71Roger h.,2009Oiloncanvas60x50cm(23¾x19¾in)CourtesyMaureenPaley,London,andMarcFoxx,LosAngeles
p.72The garden,2009Oiloncanvas3panels,each185x127cm(72¾x50in)CourtesyMaureenPaley,London,andMarcFoxx,LosAngeles
p.75Emma-Louise in front of her dressing mirror,2009Oiloncanvas190x140cm(75x55¼in)CourtesyMaureenPaley,London
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Cecily Brown
BorninLondon,1969.LivesandworksinNewYork.
Education
1989–1993BAinFineArts,SladeSchoolofArt,London,UK.1987–1989DrawingandPrintmaking,MorleyCollege,London,UK.1985–1987B-TECDiplomainArtandDesign,EpsomSchoolofArt,Surrey,UK.
SoloExhibitions
2009 Cecily Brown,DeichtorhallenHamburg,Germany.2008 Cecily Brown, GagosianGallery,NewYork,USA.2006 Cecily Brown,MuseumofFineArts,Boston,MA,USA. Cecily Brown: New Paintings,GagosianGallery,London,UK. Cecily Brown,curatedbyJeffFleming,DesMoinesArt
Center,IA,USA.2005 Cecily Brown: Paintings,KunsthalleMannheim,Germany. Cecily Brown: Paintings,curatedbySuzanneCotter,Modern
ArtOxford,UK. Cecily Brown: Recent Paintings,GagosianGallery,NewYork
(Chelsea),USA.2004 Cecily Brown,ContemporaryFineArts,Berlin,Germany. Cecily Brown,MuseoReinaSofía,Madrid,Spain. Cecily Brown,GalerieLisaRuyter,Vienna,Austria.2003 Cecily Brown,Museod’ArteContemporaneaRoma,Rome,
Italy. Cecily Brown,GagosianGallery,BeverlyHills,CA,USA.2002 Directions—Cecily Brown,HirshhornMuseumandSculpture
Garden,Washington,DC,USA. Cecily Brown,GagosianGallery,NewYork,USA.2001 Days of Heaven,ContemporaryFineArts,Berlin,Germany.2000 CecilyBrown,GagosianGallery,NewYork(Soho),USA.1999 Serenade,VictoriaMiroGallery,London,UK. The Skin Game,GagosianGallery,BeverlyHills,USA.1998 High Society,DeitchProjects,NewYork,USA.1997 Spectacle,DeitchProjects,NewYork(StorefrontGallery),USA.1995 Cecily Brown,EagleGallery,London,UK.
GroupExhibitions
2009 Visible Invisible: Against the Security of the Real,Parasolunitfoundationforcontemporaryart,London,UK.
Bad Habits,AlbrightKnoxArtGallery,Buffalo,NewYork,USA.2007 Honky Dory,GaryTatintsianGallery,Moscow,Russia.2006 Heroines,curatedbyDodieKazanjian,TheArnold&Marie
SchwartzGalleryMetattheMetropolitanOpera,NewYork(through2007),USA.
Survivor(organizedbyDavidRimanelli),BortolamiDayan,NewYork,USA.
The Garden Party,DeitchProjects,NewYork,USA.2005 Getting Emotional,InstituteofContemporaryArt,Boston,
MA,USA. 90-Day Loans: From the Broad Art Foundation and the Ovitz
Family Collection,NelsonFineArtsCenter,ArizonaStateUniversityArtMuseum,Tempe,AZ,USA.
Works on Paper,GagosianGallery,BeverlyHills,CA,USA. Contemporary Erotic Drawing,TheAldrichContemporaryArt
Museum,Ridgefield,CT,USA.2004 Whitney Biennial 2004,WhitneyMuseumofAmericanArt,
NewYork,USA. A Collector’s Vision,MuseumderModernSalzburg,Austria. Direct Painting,KunsthalleMannheim,Germany. Drawings,GagosianGallery,London(HeddonStreet),UK.
2003 Gyroscope,HirshhornMuseumandSculptureGarden,–04 Washington,DC,USA.
Under Pressure: Prints from Two Palms Press,CooperUnion,NewYork,USA.
2001 Szenenwechsel XIX,MuseumfürModerneKunst,FrankfurtamMain,Germany.
2000 OO Drawings 2000,BarbaraGladstoneGallery,NewYork,USA.
Emotional Rescue: The Contemporary Art Project Collection,CenteronContemporaryArt,Seattle,WA,USA.
The Figure: Another Side of Modernism,NewhouseCenterforContemporaryArtatSnugHarborCulturalCenter,NewYork,USA.
Greater New York: New Art in New York Now,P.S.1ContemporaryArtCenter,LongIslandCity,NY,USA.
1999 At Century’s End: The John P. Morrissey Collection of 90’s Art,TheMuseumofContemporaryArt,LakeWorth,FL,USA.
Pleasure Dome,JessicaFredericksGallery,NewYork,USA. Four Letter Heaven,DavidZwirnerVideoLibrary,NewYork,
USA. Vertical Painting,P.S.1ContemporaryArtCenter,Long
IslandCity,NY(1999–present),USA.1998 More Fake, More Real, Yet Even Closer: Drawings by Some Younger
Painters,CastleGallery,TheCollegeofNewRochelle,NY,USA.
1997 Cecily Rose Brown, Bonnie Collura and Anna Gaskell,JaniceGuyGallery,NewYork.
1996 Taking Stock,curatedbyKennySchacter,NewYork,USA.1994 The Fete Worse Than Death,LaurentDelaye,London,UK.1990 Contemporary View,NationalCompetitionforBritishArt
Students,RoyalCollegeofArt,London,UK.
Films
1995 Four Letter Heaven,ashortanimatedfilm,premieredatTellurideFilmFestival.Travelledto:AnnArborFilmFestival,MI;SeattleFilmFestival,WA;PandemoniumFestivaloftheMovingImage,InstituteforContemporaryArt,London;StuttgartFilmfest,Germany;BigMuddyFilmFestival,Carbondale,IL;BlackMariaFilmFestival,JerseyCity,NJ;andothersinEuropeandtheUS.
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Hans Josephsohn
BorninKönigsberg(nowKaliningrad),EastPrussia,1920.LivesandworksinZurich.
SoloExhibitions
2009 Visible Invisible: Against the Security of the Real,Parasolunitfoundationforcontemporaryart,London,UK.
Hauser & Wirth Outdoor Sculpture: Hans Josephsohn,StJames’sChurch,London,UK.
2008 Josephsohn Bildhauer,MuseumfürModerneKunst,FrankfurtamMain,Germany.
Hauser&Wirth,London,UK.2007 Sculpture at Schönthal,KlosterSchönthal,Langenbruck,
Switzerland. Buchmann Skulpturenprojekte,Lugano,Switzerland.2006 GalerieBobvanOrsouw,Zurich,Switzerland. PeterBlumGallery,NewYork,USA.2005 MuseumLiner,Appenzell,Switzerland. Kolumba–Diözesanmuseum,Cologne,Germany.2004 GalerieReckermann,Cologne,Germany. KesselhausJosephsohn,StGallen,Switzerland. EvangelischeStadtkirche,Darmstadt,Germany.2003 MuseumOstdeutscheGalerie,Regensburg,Germany.2002 StedelijkMuseum,Amsterdam,Netherlands. GalerieBobvanOrsouw,Zurich,Switzerland.2001 HausderKunstderStadtBrünn,Brno,CzechRepublic.2000 GalerieBobvanOrsouw,Zurich,Switzerland.1997 Helmhaus,Zurich,Switzerland.1993 GalerieimTrudelhaus,Baden,Switzerland.1988 GalerieProduga,Zurich,Switzerland.1985 StiftungLandis&Gyr,Zug,Switzerland.1984 Urania-Galerie,Zurich,Switzerland.1982 KunsthalleimWaaghaus,Winterthur,Switzerland.1981 AargauerKunsthaus,Aarau,Switzerland. BuchhandlungamRösslitorundGalerieander
Klostermauer,StGallen,Switzerland.1978 GalerieanderStadthausgasse,Schaffhausen,Switzerland.1975 MuseumzuAllerheiligen,Schaffhausen,Switzerland.1972 GaleriezumElephanten,Zurzach,Switzerland.1969 GalerieDanielKeel,Zurich,Switzerland.1967 TechnischesRathausTübingen,Tubingen,Germany.1966 GalerieObereZäune,Zurich,Switzerland.1965 KunsthalleBasel,Switzerland.1964 Helmhaus,Zurich,Switzerland.1962 GalerieamStadelhofen,Zurich,Switzerland.1956 StädtischeKunstkammerzumStrauhof,Zurich,Switzerland.
GroupExhibitions
2009 Visible Invisible: Against the Security of the Real,Parasolunitfoundationforcontemporaryart,London,UK.
Hauptsache Köpfe. Merkwürdige Häupter,GalerieReckermann,Cologne,Germany.
2007 The Third Mind,PalaisdeTokyo,Paris,France. Klaus Merz und die Bilder,LiteraturmuseumStrauhof,
Zurich,Switzerland. Hans Josephsohn und Marisa Merz,GalerieBuchmannLugano,
Lugano,Switzerland. Hans Josephsohn und Ernst Hermanns,GalerieReckermann,
Cologne,Germany.2006 Die obere Hälfte – die Büste seit August Rodin,MuseumLiner
Appenzell,Switzerland.(touringexhibition)2005 Die obere Hälfte – die Büste seit August Rodin,StädtischeMuseen
Heilbronn,Heilbronn,Germany.(touringexhibition) Die obere Hälfte – die Büste seit August Rodin,Kunsthalle
Emden,Germany.(touringexhibition) Architektur + Kunst – Dialoge,ArchitekturGalerieBerlin,
Germany;KunsthalleWien,Vienna,Austria.(touringexhibition)
2004 Mind the Gap,KunstvereinFreiburg,Germany.2003 Mostra Internazionale di Scultura all’Aperto,variouslocations,
ViraGambarogno,Switzerland.2000 SammlungFrick,Schaan,Liechtenstein. Der verlorene Blick,GalerieLelong,Zurich,Switzerland.1999 HausBill,Zumikon,Switzerland.1998 Spurensuche Mensch,Seedamm-Kulturzentrum,Pfaffikon,
Switzerland.1994 Eine Art Kunstszene,HelmhausZürich,Zurich,Switzerland.1989 Babel, 2. Bauetappe,ArtBasel,Switzerland.1988 Kunstszene Zürich 88,Shedhalle,Zurich,Switzerland.1986 GalerieimTrudelhaus,Baden,Switzerland.1984 KunsthausAarau,Switzerland. Le Strutture della Visualità,MuseoCivico,Varese,Italy.1981 Zeichnungen von 13 Schweizer Bildhauern,TirolerKunstpavillon,
KleinerHopfgarten,Innsbruck,Austria.1972 Künstler im Atelier,MuseumStrauhof,Zurich,Switzerland.1969 KunsthausZürich,GSMBA(Gesellschaftschweizerischer
Maler,BildhauerundArchitekten/SocietyofSwissPainters,SculptorsandArchitects),Zurich,Switzerland.
1967 10. Internationale Kunstausstellung,Bayreuth,Germany. Zürcher Künstler,HelmhausZürich,Zurich,Switzerland.1965 ParktheaterMeilen,Zurich,Switzerland.1963 GalerieamStadelhofen,Zurich,Switzerland. Freie Gruppe, Stuttgart 1963,WürttembergischerKunstverein
imKunstgebäudeamSchlossplatz,Stuttgart,Germany. Bodenseekünstler,Friedrichshafen,Germany.1961 Nationale,KunstmuseumLuzern,Lucerne,Switzerland.1960 KünstlervereinigungDer Ring,MuseumzuAllerheiligen
Schaffhausen,Schaffhausen,Switzerland.1959 GemeindehausderIsraelitischenKultusgemeinde,Zurich,
Switzerland.1958 KünstlervereinigungDer Ring,SchulhausWolfbach,Zurich,
Switzerland.1956 Nationale,Basel,Switzerland.1954 Plastik im Freien,variouslocations,Biel,Switzerland. 7 junge Zürcher Künstler,Helmhaus,Zurich,Switzerland.1951 BeteiligungandenWeihnachtsausstellungen(participant
inChristmasexhibition),Helmhaus,Zurich,Switzerland.1949 Junge Zürcher Künstler,KunsthausZürich,Zurich,Switzerland.1946 Emigrantenkünstler in der Schweiz,Helmhaus,Zurich,
Switzerland.
107106
Shaun McDowell
BorninCuckfield,WestSussex,UK,1981.LivesandworksinLondon,UK.
Education
2000–2002ReigateSchoolofArtandDesign,UK.2002–2005ChelseaCollegeofArtandDesignBA(Hons)FineArtNewMedia,London,UK.
SoloExhibition
2008 Confessions and Love Pictures, A Cycle of Paintings by Shaun McDowell,HannahBarryGallery,London,UK.
SelectedGroupExhibitions
2009 Visible Invisible: Against the Security of the Real,Parasolunitfoundationforcontemporaryart,London,UK.
TO PAINT IS TO LOVE AGAIN,HannahBarryGalleryat21DeringStreet,London,UK.
2008 Optimism: The Art of Our Time,HannahBarryGallery,London,UK.
Bold Tendencies II,HannahBarryGallery,Peckham,PeckhamMultiplex,London,UK.
2007 Monumental Painting, Sculpture and Film,Area10,Peckham,London,UK.
Bold Tendencies, A Survey Exhibition,SumnerHouse,SumnerRoad,Peckham,London,UK.
Building and Breaking – Drawing in Pencil,78LyndhurstWay,Peckham,London,UK.
Experiments with Figuration,78LyndhurstWay,Peckham,London,UK.
Landscape, Film & Photography,78LyndhurstWay,Peckham,London,UK.
Small Paintings and Sculpture,78LyndhurstWay,Peckham,London,UK.
2006 10 Rooms and a Sculpture Garden,27LyndhurstWay,Peckham,London,UK.
The Gateless Gate, Untitled Generation,SassoonGallery,BlenheimGrove,Peckham,London,UK.
Katy Moran
BorninManchester,1975.LivesandworksinLondon.
Education
2003–2005RoyalCollegeofArt,MAPainting.1995–1998LeedsMetropolitanUniversity,BAHonsGraphicArtandDesign.
SoloExhibitions
2009 Contemporary Fine and Applied Arts: 1928–2009,TateStIves,Cornwall,UK.
StuartShave/ModernArt,London,UK. GalleriailCapricorno,Venice,Italy.2008 MiddlesbroughInstituteofModernArt,Middlesbrough,UK. AnthonyMeierFineArts,SanFrancisco,CA,USA. AndreaRosenGallery,NewYork,USA.2006 StuartShave/ModernArt,London,UK.
GroupExhibitions
2009 Visible Invisible: Against the Security of the Real,Parasolunitfoundationforcontemporaryart,London,UK.
Surface Reality,LaingArtGallery,Newcastle,UK.2008 Strange Solution, Art Now,TateBritain,London,UK.2007 Dining Room Show,AndreaRosenGallery,Amagansett,Long
Island,NY,USA. Old Space New Space,GagosianGallery,NewYork,USA. The Painting Show – Slipping Abstraction,MeadGallery,
WarwickArtsCentre,Warwick,UK. Salon Nouveau,GalerieEngholmEngelhorn,Vienna,Austria.2006 A Broken Arm,curatedbyMariSpirito,303gallery,
NewYork,USA. New Contemporaries 2006,LondonandLiverpool,UK.
(touringexhibition) Young Painters,GrusenmeyerArtGallery,Deurle,Belgium. Primetime Painting – Young Art from London,GalerieSeitz,
Berlin,Germany.2005 Art Futures,Bloomberg,London,UK,(Art Reviewmagazine
prize). Peculiar Encounters,ecArtspace,London,UK. London Kicks,TheWoosterProject,NewYork,USA. Morpho Eugenia,SanMarino,Europe. Man Drawing Prize,RoyalCollegeofArt,London,UK.
109108
Maaike Schoorel
BorninSantpoort,Netherlands,1973.LivesandworksinLondonandAmsterdam.
Education
2001 MA,RoyalCollegeofArt,London,UK.1998 BA,GerritRietveldAcademy,Amsterdam,Netherlands.1997 MichaelisSchoolofFineArt,CapeTown,SouthAfrica.
SoloExhibitions
(c)denotesacataloguewaspublishedinconjunctionwithexhibition.
2009 Nudes and Garden,MarcFoxx,LosAngeles,CA,USA.2008 Album,MuseumdeHallen,Haarlem,Netherlands.(c) Nudes,MaureenPaley,London,UK.2007 Stilleven,Portret,Schutterstuk,MarcFoxx:WestGallery,
LosAngeles,CA,USA.2006 Bathing dining garden father daughters beach bed,Maureen
Paley,London,UK.2004 Rheinschau Art Cologne Projects,GalerieDianaStigter,
Cologne,Germany.(c) Twilight,GalerieDianaStigter,Amsterdam,Netherlands.2002 Darling Buds,GalerieDianaStigter,Amsterdam, Netherlands.
GroupExhibitions
(c)denotesacataloguewaspublishedinconjunctionwithexhibition.
2009 Visible Invisible: Against the Security of the Real,Parasolunitfoundationforcontemporaryart,London,UK.(c)
Fallen Out of Space,Mol’sPlace,London,UK. Long Meg,VilmaGoldGallery,London,UK.2008 Roger Hiorns, Christina Mackie, Maaike Schoorel,curated
byMaaikeSchoorel,GalerieDianaStigter,Amsterdam,Netherlands.
Eyes Wide Open – New to the Collection,StedelijkMuseum,Amsterdam,Netherlands.
Nonknowledge,ProjectArtsCentre,Dublin,Ireland. Wolvecamp Prize,Hengelo,Netherlands.(c)2007 Prix de Rome 2007,deAppel,Amsterdam,Netherlands.(c) How to Endure,curatedbyTomMorton,AthensBiennial,
Athens,Greece. Very Abstract and Hyper Figurative,curatedbyJensHoffmann,
ThomasDaneGallery,London,UK.(c) Zes,curatedbyMarcFoxx,MarcFoxx,LA,&Harris
Lieberman,NewYork,USA.(c)2006 Just in time,StedelijkMuseum,Amsterdam,Netherlands.(c) Le Nouveau Siècle, curatedbyXanderKarskens,Museumvan
Loon,Amsterdam,Netherlands.(c) Vincent Van Gogh and Expressionism,VanGoghMuseum,
Amsterdam,Netherlands.2005 Alex Bircken, Mari Eastman, Maaike Schoorel,MaureenPaley,
London,UK. Slow Art,MuseumKunstPalast,Düsseldorf,Germany.(c) Prague Biennale 2,presentationforFlashArt,Prague,Czech
Republic.(c) Two-person show with Nathaniel Mellors,IBIDProjects,
Vilnius,Lithuania.2004 Must I paint you a Picture?,curatedbyPabloLafuente,
HaunchofVenison,London,UK. Concert in the Egg,TheShip,London,UK.2003 Someplace Unreachable,IBIDProjects,London,UK. To Avoid the Void,Artwalk,Amsterdam,Netherlands.
2002 Koninklijke Subsidie voor Vrije Schilderkunst,GemeenteMuseum,TheHague,Netherlands.
Band in Crisis,(withSkill7Stamina12),CooperGallery,Dundee,Scotland,UK.
Deliberate Regression,DanielArnaudGallery,London,UK. And Other Love Stories,GalerieDianaStigter,Amsterdam,
Netherlands.2001 An Elephant Station,VilmaGold,London,UK.
111110
PublishedbyParasolunitfoundationforcontemporaryartontheoccasionoftheexhibitionVisible Invisible: Against the Security of the Real25November2009–7February2010
Copyright©2009Parasolunitfoundationforcontemporaryart,theartists,andtheindividualauthors
Editor:ZibaArdalandeWeckforParasolunitfoundationforcontemporaryart,LondonEditingandcopyediting:HelenWireDesign:Moiré.MarcKappeler,MarkusReichenbach&DominikHuber,ZurichTypeface:LexiconPaper:Profisilk170g/MunkenLynx80gPrintedandboundinGermanybyDruckereizuAltenburg
Cover:Image(detail):ShaunMcDowell,Untitled,2008–2009Oilonboard,119x90cm(46¾x35½in)Courtesyofaprivatecollection
Acknowledgements
Photography:A.Burger,pp.26;H.Goodwin,TheGreenwoodStudio,pp.48;Hauser&Wirth,pp.23–25,27–28;AchimKukulies,Düsseldorf,pp.39–40;RobertMcKeever,courtesyGagosianGallery,pp.2–13,18;MaureenPaley,London,pp.66–76;PhillipsdePury&Company,pp.16–17;Sotheby’s,Inc.,TobiasMeyer,principalauctioneer,#9588677,pp.14–15;StuartShave/ModernArt,London,andAndreaRosenGallery,NewYork,pp.52–60,62;StephenWhite,cover,pp.33–38,41–47;ToddWhite&Son,pp.61.
Distribution
Parasolunitfoundationforcontemporaryart14WharfRoad,LondonN17RWT+44(0)2074907373,F+44(0)[email protected],www.parasol-unit.org
Firstpublishedin2009byParasolunit,LondonISBN978-0-9560247-1-8
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