Joseph Cornell, Karen Kilimnik
June 09 – August 27 2010
Sprüth Magers
London
W1S

..Through the use of paintings, collage and installation, the exhibition will explore the affinities between both artists who were influenced by the Romantic ballet era.



Both artists’ frame of reference extends to the presentation of their works and the surrounding environment in which they are encountered. The organizing motif of Cornell’s Hotel series is the window, which invites the viewer to consider interior and exterior views, clearly establishing the successive rounds of reality to the mystery beyond.

For the exhibition, his poignant works will be respectively showcased within the midnight blue of the gallery walls, used by the artist in his collages to create impressions of the sky and which he believed to evoke contemplation of the celestial. In addition to the painted walls and, characteristic of Kilimnik’s theatrical installations, the gallery will be transformed into an aesthetic context which alludes to the salon era of the nineteenth century, enabling the viewer to palpably enter into a dialogue with the past.(Spruth Magers)

A beautifully deep midnight blue embedded with child like dreams: This room engages all of my senses and brings forth tiny half forgotten memories from a childhood long past, along with images, not just of romantic dance and movement but the thrill of embodying the observer and performer in private spaces as well as theatrical. My eyes are drawn upwards into the darkness, as if searching a middle distance.

These objects line a path to the romanticism of the past: And as if walking onto a stage, from a dim glow into spotlight the drama of the music pushes forward with every step.The last installation feels like the other side of the performance, the dance without the dancer, where I am walking off stage, out of the spot light and into the harsh bright light of the outside world. Returning from a personal and historical past.

Thanks to SHOW OF THE WEEK for the tip. If you have seen the show you can head over to SOTW and get involved in the discussion there too.