Chris Johanson "Totalities"

Deitch Projects (Wooster St.)

poster for Chris Johanson "Totalities"

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"Totalities," a “contemporary living installation” by Chris Johanson, presents the artist’s thoughts on contemporary living, involving, plants, animals, and people, expressed through a multi-media construction incorporating paintings, sculpture, installation and musical performance.

When the viewer enters the gallery space, all they will see is a giant checkerboard of skin tones and natural hues, representing the colors of the world. The viewer then passes through the artist’s natural tunnel and emerges into a “space temple,” which also represents a space ship or a universal time capsule. All the paintings within are representations of the past, the present and the future. The works are intended to share the thought that time goes on forever in both directions, illuminating the concept that we are here right now, but the things we effect go on forever.

The exhibition’s major theme is the planet earth and its place in the universe. There is also a meditation on the natural world of plants and animals and how they live within themselves, and how they are effected by humans, with an emphasis on recycling. All of the wood used in the exhibition is recycled. Almost all of it comes from New York State and most is retrieved from dumpsters near the artist’s Brooklyn studio and from discarded art shipping crates. The artist asks his friends and acquaintances for scraps of wood, endeavoring to give the wood a third life. He uses the beautiful, natural history of the wood with all its scars to prolong its life and build an entryway back into nature. Johanson talks about the degradation of the planet and the beauty of the world through his art, reminding people of their responsibilities.

Media

Schedule

from September 04, 2008 to October 18, 2008

Opening Reception on 2008-09-04 from 18:00 to 21:00

Artist(s)

Chris Johanson

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