Brian Jungen, Installation Shot of Prototypes for New Understanding (1998-2003). Photo: Trevor Mills, Vancouver Art Gallery
THE NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART
presents:
Brian Jungen
September 29 - December 31, 2005
Air Jordans and plastic garden chairs morph into Aboriginal
masks and skeletons in the work of Canadian artist Brian Jungen. Jungen's work explores the current tensions between
indigenous and global cultures by transforming ordinary consumer goods into emblematic sculptures. This exhibition marks the
first comprehensive survey of Jungen's work from the past
ten years.
from the press release:
The New Museum of Contemporary Art is proud to present the first North American survey of the work of Brian Jungen (b.1970). Based in Vancouver, Jungen has received significant international acclaim for his imaginative and critical transformation of consumer goods into anthropomorphic forms that evoke a range of contexts from Aboriginal sculpture to natural history museums and retail display. His installations integrate the complex circuitry of desire, mimicry, and fetishization that shape global cultural and economic exchange. This exhibition includes several bodies of work, produced over the last ten years, some of which are being seen for the first time in their entirety. This exhibition also introduces a new series of works, Talking Stick (2005), produced by carving socially charged words and phrases into baseball bats.
As you enter the gallery, you are confronted by what appear to be large whale skeletons. From twenty-one to forty feet in length these skeletons float in space, reminiscent of a museum of natural history display as much they are of a museum of contemporary art. Yet, in this display the pod, or family of three whales, appears to be playfully swimming in and out of the grid of columns. Upon closer inspection, it is possible to discern that the skeletons - the ribs, backbones, flippers, and skulls - are in fact produced by disassembling and reconfiguring the same variety of common white plastic backyard chair. The irony of Jungen's construction of the natural world through petroleum byproducts should not be overlooked as it speaks to his sense of our place in the same ecosystem and larger life cycles such as the whales themselves. [read on...]
Brian Jungen, Talking Sticks (2005). Produced with support from the Province of British Columbia Spirit of BC Arts Fund.
Brian Jungen Exhibition Tours
Through December 31, 2005Visitors can join any New Museum docent-led tours on a drop-in basis. Join us for tours of the exhibition Brian Jungen on Thursdays at 6:30PM and Saturdays at 2PM. Exhibition tours are free with museum admission.
The Goldwater Library has materials in its vertical files regarding Brian Jungen: search Watsonline under "Keyword":
Jungen, Brian : [miscellaneous ephemeral material]
LOCATION CALL NUMBER STATUS
ARTIST FILE
Descript 1 folder
Scope The folder may include clippings, announcements, small exhibition catalogs, and other ephemeral items
Local note Additional Materials in V.F. Cabinets in Stacks
Subject Jungen, Brian
Mat type Vertical files.
Comments