Amy Granat "Cars, Trees, Houses, Beaches"

Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery

poster for Amy Granat "Cars, Trees, Houses, Beaches"

This event has ended.

There’s a sweet spot, supposedly, where the jack meets the frame. Find it and crank it best you can. Open the compartment. The next steps are simple, but require finesse, agility, and strength. The job will be dirty, even if everything goes as planned. Greasy metal grips metal and parts begin to move. The little arm starts to lift the big T & the lug wrench – there is beauty in how things fit. It’s hard not to feel powerful at this point, standing over the machine as it’s propped on a tilt. The wrench turns just like it should, and when it does - surprise, relief, exhilaration and even pride.
— Notes on changing a car tire.

Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery is pleased to present a new exhibition by Amy Granat entitled "Cars, Trees, Houses, Beaches". Best known for experimental film installations and photograms made through the direct manipulation of film stock, Granat’s exhibition is comprised of a new film installation, a series of photograms, a sound piece, and for the first time, a group of works combining photography and painted text to reflect on her process of filmmaking.

The gallery space is divided into light and dark rooms. In the darkened room are three films shot on location in Hawaii, California, and New York. Each film has a concrete subject and a specific relation to the others; together, they form an composition that may be entered at any point, emphasizing rhythm and structure, and breaking down film into its most basic elements: motion and light. This interest in rhythm connects the darkened room to the light space, where two-dimensional works and a sound piece are installed. Colors taken from sunrise, sunset, and the gray shades of the moon relate the painting/photograph works to the cycles of nature; and the steady repetition of the sound piece invites the listener into a more intimate space, a cadence created from raw recorded sound and mistakes. Photography, painting, and sound act as tools which allow an understanding of filmmaking as an experiential form, rooted in cycles that are both personal and universal.

In recent years Granat has been writing descriptive texts to accompany her films – Observations on a bowl of fruit, Skyscraper, and for this show, Notes on changing a car tire. For Granat, these texts operate in place of a didactic artist statement. The texts relate everyday occurrences, large and small, to artistic processes and to the relationship between media and form.

Amy Granat (b. 1976) received a B.A. in 1998 from Bard College, where she studied film and painting. After moving to New York City, she founded Cinema Zero, a nomadic film and performance series, and collaborated with numerous artists. Her 16mm films and photographs have been included in exhibitions at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris; the Ullens Center in Beijing; Basis, Frankfurt; PS1, SculptureCenter, and the 2008 Whitney Biennial, New York. Recent solo exhibitions include The Kitchen and the New Museum in New York in 2010.

Media

Schedule

from April 14, 2011 to June 04, 2011

Opening Reception on 2011-04-14 from 18:00 to 20:00

Artist(s)

Amy Granat

  • Facebook

    Reviews

    All content on this site is © their respective owner(s).
    New York Art Beat (2008) - About - Contact - Privacy - Terms of Use