MK Guth and Eva Hesse Exhibition
Franklin Parrasch Gallery (548 W 22nd St)
This event has ended.
Franklin Parrasch Gallery presents MK Guth and Eva Hesse, the latest in a series of two-artist, cross-generational exhibitions.
Hesse’s works on paper give static forms an organic, dynamic life. Depicting unspooling plaits, shapes evocative of vegetal growth, and writhing film reel-like forms on undulating fields, the 1964 gouache and pencil drawing included in this show allows the viewer to comprehend the powerful relationship between the works of Hesse and Guth. Evocative of Hesse’s dimensional pieces is Guth’s capillaceous composite of filaments, harkening back to Untitled (Rope Piece) (1970) and Hesse’s further manipulations of fiberglass, plastic, and latex. Hesse’s visionary works inform and spill over into the present via Guth’s locks and curls, reminiscent of the celebrated discolored slack membrane-like shapes.
“We've talked about art, we've talked about life, we've talked about death," MK Guth says about the visitors to her 20-day interactive performance “Best Wishes” exhibited at Cosmopolitan P3 Studio of Las Vegas, Nevada which was administered through the Art Production Fund of New York City. "Some things people wish for are very casual, others are very profound." Dreams and worries were written on pieces of white cloth, and then entwined into extensions woven into Guth’s hair incorporating 750 desires, eventually measuring 600 feet long. Also on view, in addition to the site-specific installation of Best Wishes, are three ink drawings spelling out phrases pulled from Guth’s “Ties of Protection and Safe Keeping,” piece created for the 2008 Whitney Biennial.
[Image: MK Guth "Best Wishes" (2012) braided fabric, artificial hair and thread, dimensions variable]