Michael Waugh "Decline and Fall"
Schroeder Romero & Shredder
This event has ended.
Central to the exhibition are Waugh’s intricate drawings based on his exploration of micrography, a 9th century Jewish calligraphic technique where tiny handwritten words coalesce into representational images – images that in Waugh’s case range from portraits of turn of the century rowers, dogs of various breeds, and grand dynamic landscapes. Originally used to illuminate religious works, here Waugh uses secular texts such as Edward Gibbon’s "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" and "The Accumulation of Capital" by Rosa Luxemburg to draw attention to how written language itself has become aestheticized and separated from everyday life. Waugh makes no attempt to summarize or interpret his source texts. By copying them word for word, or reading them verbatim in his performance works, he creates unashamedly monumental works grappling with large, sustained ideas, and his marathon-like labor can barely contain them.
[Image: Michael Waugh 2010 "The Accumulation of Capital (from Luxemburg to Robinson) (detail)" Ink on mylar; diptych 100 x 42 in.]
Media
Schedule
from March 03, 2011 to April 09, 2011
Opening Reception on 2011-03-03 from 18:00 to 20:00