Tag: Conceptual Art

Tyler Rowland in ‘HiJack’ at Jack Shainman Gallery

Tyler Rowland, The Stonebreakers (All the Objects Needed to Install a Work of Art), trash from jobsite, 2004-06
Tyler Rowland, The Stonebreakers (All the Objects Needed to Install a Work of Art), trash from jobsite, 2004-06

Artist Tyler Rowland was so taken by 19th century Realist painter Gustave Courbet that he spent a year impersonating (in appearance anyways) his forebear.  In ‘HiJack!’ a show of work organized by the art handlers at Chelsea’s Jack Shainman Gallery, Rowland’s contribution is a missing Courbet painting (presumed destroyed in the WWII bombing of Dresden), along with the tools necessary to install it (all carefully manufactured by the artist from materials recycled from construction jobs).  The layers of reference are complex but readable, making this piece a testament to the continuing influence of art history on contemporary painting while challenging preconceptions of what an artwork should look like. (‘The Stonebreakers (All the Objects Needed to Install a Work of Art), 2004-06’ is on view through Sept 1st. )

Tyler Rowland, The Stonebreakers (All the Objects Needed to Install a Work of Art), trash from jobsite, 2004-06
Tyler Rowland, The Stonebreakers (All the Objects Needed to Install a Work of Art), trash from jobsite, 2004-06

Allen Ruppersberg in ‘Context Message’ at Zach Feuer Gallery

Allen Ruppersberg, 'What Should I Do?,' 1988, silkscreen on steel.
Allen Ruppersberg, ‘What Should I Do?,’ 1988, silkscreen on steel.

Allen Ruppersberg’s ‘What Should I Do?’ from 1988 poses a simple but often relevant question.  It relates to his ‘70s autobiographical project ‘The Novel that Writes Itself’ for which he sold the parts of individual characters to people he knew.  By the 80s, he hadn’t resolved the novel and in its place, began accumulating a series of short, unrelated texts like this one.   Though only a few words, it assumes a lot: that the speaker has an audience, agency and options.  With almost no means, this silkscreen on steel portrays a life in flux. (At Zach Feuer through August 3rd).