NYAB Event - G.T. Pellizzi “The Red and the Black”

G.T. Pellizzi “The Red and the Black”

Y Gallery (319 Grand St.)

This event has ended.

The Red and the Black is the first of an ongoing series of projects that engage the commercial and pedagogical aspects of the art world. The name comes from Stendhal’s book by the same name. In his novel, the colors refer to the two paths to power available to a lower class young man in post-revolutionary France. For the first time in its history, one could transcend one’s social status by joining the military (the red) or the church (the black). In this series of projects G. T. Pellizzi transposes this analogy to the of career aspiring artists. The art world offers two paths to power: the commercial (galleries, auction houses, collectors etc), and the pedagogical (museums, schools, arts organizations, etc.). The relation between the two is complex and always fraught with contradictions. At the same time these projects experiment with new forms of abstraction, and new ways of generating form and surface. In this rendition of the Red and The Black, the works oscillate between painting, sculpture and real-estate.

Y Gallery presents The Red and the Black, by G. T. Pellizzi. For this exhibition, G. T. has rebuilt the walls of the gallery and painted them Red, while covering the floor in black carpet. These walls will be for sale by the square foot throughout the duration of the exhibition. The public is welcome to choose whatever size and shape of wall space they like. Black oil paint will be used to delineate the perimeter of each piece that is sold. The price per square foot is determined by the market value of real estate in the Lower East Side, where the gallery is located. A record of each piece will also be drawn and certified in a book displayed in the space. One week before the exhibition closes, G. T. will begin the process of cutting out all the purchased pieces from the walls. The elements used for this exhibition, the black paint, the brushes, the rulers, the circular saw, the book where the pieces and purchasers are registered, will all be housed on a scorched black podium and bench situated at the center of the gallery.

G.T. Pellizzi (Giandomenico Tonatiuh Pellizzi) was born in 1978 in Tlayacapan, Mexico. He studied philosophy at St Johns College and is a graduate from The Channin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union.