Photo courtesy Claire Laude/Galerie Feinkost Berlin

"Hopeful," an exhibition by David Levine.
Location: Cabinet, 300 Nevins Street, Brooklyn, NY (map and directions here).
Opening reception: Saturday, October 3, 6–8 pm (featuring a performance by Christian Hawkey)
Exhibition dates: October 3–24, 2009
Gallery hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 12–6 pm
Cabinet is pleased to present "Hopeful," a solo exhibition by Berlin- and New York-based artist David Levine.
"Hopeful" explores headshots—photographs of actors looking for work
rather than publicity portraits of stars—both as genre and as material
artifact. First appearing in the 1950s, these peculiar images routinely
disregard conventions of portraiture: the intended viewer, who is in a
position to hire the actor, is offered no environment, professional
emblems, or trace of social context.
Today, New York City agents alone receive an estimated ten thousand
headshots weekly, ninety-nine percent of which are routinely thrown
out. What is the ecological impact of this rejected material? And how
much waste—not only trashed photographs but also image CDs, demo tapes,
slides, and manuscripts—does the culture industry need to generate in
order to maintain its meritocratic reputation?
For the opening of "Hopeful," poet Christian Hawkey will stage a
collaborative, polyvocal performance of his poem "i am writing to
inform you of what i am currently doing," which draws its inspiration
from Levine's installation.
A version of "Hopeful" was exhibited at Galerie Feinkost in Berlin in the summer of 2009. [Artforum Pick; Art in America Review]About the Artist
David Levine's work
encompasses performance, theater, installation, and video. His
projects, which examine the premises of acting and spectacle, have been
seen at Documenta XII (with Cabinet), Gavin Brown's
Enterprise@Passerby, Galerie Feinkost (Berlin), Galerie Magnus Mueller
(Berlin), the Goethe Institut (Berlin and New York), HAU2 (Berlin),
PS122, and the Sundance Theater Lab, as well as more traditional venues
such as the Vineyard, Atlantic, and Primary Stages theaters. His work
has been featured in the New York Times, Artforum, Bomb, Art in America, TDR, The Village Voice, The Believer, Theater Der Zeit, and Theater Heute,
and he has received grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts,
the Kulturstiftung Des Bundes, and Etants Donnes/French Fund for
Performance. Represented by Galerie Feinkost, Levine
lives in New York and Berlin, where he is the Director of the Studio
Programme at the European College of Liberal Arts. He will be giving a
presentation on "Hopeful" at Prelude 09 (preludenyc.org) on October 2. [see below]
About Cabinet
Featuring exhibitions of both contemporary art and historical
materials, as well as an eclectic schedule of talks, screenings, and
events, Cabinet's space was inaugurated in the fall of 2008 to extend
the award-winning magazine's engagement with art and culture into the
public realm. Located at 300 Nevins Street (between Sackett and Union)
in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, Cabinet's space is open
Tuesday to Saturday 12–6 pm and by appointment, and is fully
wheelchair-accessible.
Also, @ Prelude09:

David Levine
Friday, October 2
5.30-6.15pm
MARTIN E. SEGAL THEATRE CENTER
The CUNY Graduate Center
365 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY10016
ph: 212.817.1860
Levine's
presentation will focus on unsolicited actors’ headshots and cover
letters. Specific topics to be covered: the history of the headshot,
the economy of the headshot, the demonic & vengeful nature of those
hopeful stares, the tragic and transcendent ontology of the unsolicited
submission.
[more info, directions]