ARMOR
May 13 - June 30, 2021
David Hockney (B. 1937), In an Old Book, From 'Illustrations for Fourteen Poems from C. P. Cavafy', 1966, Etching, Image Dimensions: 13 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches (35 x 22 cm), Framed Dimensions: 27 1/2 x 20 3/4 inches (69.9 x 52.7 cm), Edition : 41/75
After 15 months of closure, due to Covid-19 related restrictions, we are thrilled to re-open the doors of our New York gallery space with ARMOR, a group exhibition featuring works by Harry Bertoia, Bernard Childs, Raymond Han, David Hockney, Robert Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein and Christiane Löhr. While we remain open by appointment only, we are looking forward to welcoming you back to the Fuller Building and the opportunity to show and discuss exceptional works of art in person. In addition, we will also continue our growing virtual exhibition and event programs, including the monthly Drawing Challenge.
Considering the many challenges of the past few months, as well as those still lying ahead, it seems fitting to inaugurate our 2021 program with an exhibition entitled ARMOR, while the thought of a “defensive covering for the body” remains prevalent on our collective minds, be it in the form of facial masks or vaccines.
However, the title was specifically inspired by the two-piece work on paper by Roy Lichtenstein that is currently on display. Said work was created in 1964 as Lichtenstein’s ‘Spear-Bearer’ costume, which he wore in Dick Higgins’s restaging of Dzhoneš’s opera Hrusalk. It was Lichtenstein's only appearance in a Happening. He performed alongside Higgins, Letty Lou Eisenhauer and others at the Café au Go Go, located at 152 Bleecker Street in New York.
Left: Bernard Childs (1910-1985), Le Vol, 1962, Oil, Vinylite glue, sand & powdered pigment , 25 1/2 x 21 3/4 inches (64.8 x 55.2 cm) Right: Robert Kelly (b. 1956), Mimesis Noir XXXIV, 2016, Oil and mixed media on panel, 17 x 14 inches (43.2 x 35.6 cm)
In contrast, David Hockney’s etching In an Old Book (1966), which is part of the artist’s Illustrations of Fourteen Poems from C. P. Cavafy reads as an antidote to armor in that it seems to address physical vulnerability, the sensuality of the male form and pride in its beauty. Hockney first came across the work of the modern Greek poet Constantine P. Cafavy (1863-1933) while attending college in the early 1960s. He was particularly fascinated with Cafavy's themes of gay love and desire, which recalled nostalgic memories of the poet's fleeting erotic encounters while living in Alexandria, Egypt during a time when homosexuals were forced to hide their activities. Hockney's homage to Cafavy features 12 full-page etchings based on drawings Hockney made from life. These spare and lyrical prints are not literal illustrations of the poems, but rather evocations of the artist's own transitory sexual encounters.
Made of Beryllium copper and bronze, Harry Bertoia’s sculpture Untitled (Sonambient) (circa 1970) transforms the characteristics usually associated with these metals. It was in the 1960’s that Bertoia began to create his sound, “Sonambient” or “tonal” sculptures. While he employed various alloys and metals to develop the particular tonalities he was after, he also considered the space around his sculptures.
In Bernard Childs’s Le Vol, two abstracted, ghost-like figures are floating in space, attached to an ominous landscape by one delicate red line, perhaps, a trail of blood. The latter is the only saturated color used in this composition, which otherwise remains black and white. Due to these stark contrasts, the figures seem to be as frozen in time and space as the circular shape below them, a fading moon dimmed by the grim landscape that stretches ahead.
A sense of vulnerability can also be detected in Raymond Han’s Robed Woman in Profile (2002, which depicts and classical draped female figure in the context of a still life. We observe her from behind, while she herself gazes over her left shoulder, seemingly oblivious to those inspecting her. To her right, a clock is sitting on a mantle, suggesting the passing of time, and possibly the inevitability of aging, while to her left, a delicate porcelain plate hints at the fragility of both the portrayed subject and the moment at large.
It would be a pleasure to guide you through the exhibition and we are looking forward to connecting again in person.