 Photokinetoscope, 2002 166-mm film installation with vinyl disc, projector, looper mechanism, and modified turntable, Variable Collection Lisa Spellman, New York Courtesy 303 Gallery, New York Rodney Graham A Little Thought "Rodney Graham: A Little Thought", the first major North American museum exhibition of work by Vancouver-based artist Rodney Graham (b. 1949), is an in-depth examination of the evolution of his film, video, and sound works spanning 25 years. This mid-career survey focuses on the video and film work that has dominated Graham's production of the past decade and traces its origins back to his first outdoor projection events of the late 1970s. "Rodney Graham: A Little Thought" features over 25 works, including eight major audio-visual installations and new film works, as well as props, notes, scripts and audio works that enhance the understanding of Graham's highly original approach to his subjects. Along with related models, photographs and an extensive collection of archival material, the exhibition also presents his forays into sound work and music performed by the artist and his band. While Rodney Graham is commonly described as a conceptual artist, the scope of his artistic and intellectual pursuits defies categorization. Heralded as a master of mixing media, Graham investigates the specific roots of modernism, creatively splicing fact with fiction. His photographs, videos, and soundworks reference a rich range of subjects from music, literature, and pop culture, including James Bond, Cary Grant, Sigmund Freud, Kurt Cobain, John Cage, and elevator music. After years of using the camera obscura to pursue photographic and sculptural investigations of landscape, Graham returned as the central subject of his work with the video "Halcion Sleep" (1994) and the trilogy of film works "Vexation Island" (1997), "How I Became a Ramblin' Man" (1999), and "City Self/Country Self" (2000). These looping film narratives, starring the artist, mimic the genres of the tragedy, the western, and the costume drama to explore themes that are literary, filled with humor, and self-deprecating musings on the identity of the artist. The lead actor in his recent costume dramas, Graham emerges as an absurdist entertainer caught in his own circular narratives. A new work, "Rheinmetal/Victoria 8" (2003), is a 35mm film loop installation featuring a sequence of long, static details of a 1930s vintage German typewriter. The static camera position together with special effects-the use of flour to simulate falling snow that eventually covers the machine-refer to pioneering cinematic techniques. Other recent films, such as "The Phonokinetoscope" (2002) and the newest "A Reverie Interrupted by the Police" (2003), incorporate sound and music. The exhibition includes "Edge of a Wood" (1999), a 2003 MOCA purchase consisting of a double-projection video installation for which the artist filmed a helicopter panning a forest at night. Lit only by the surveying light of the vehicle, the forest appears both illumined and sinister. The work was previously included in MOCA's 2001 "Flight Patterns" exhibition. "Rodney Graham: A Little Thought" is jointly coordinated by MOCA Curator Connie Butler, Vancouver Art Gallery Curator: Grant Arnold, and Art Gallery of Ontario Adjunct Curator Jessica Bradley. Publication: the exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated 200-page book produced by MOCA and distributed by Distributed Art Publishers, New York. "Rodney Graham: A Little Thought" includes essays by organizing curators Grant Arnold (Vancouver), Connie Butler (Los Angeles), and Jessica Bradley (Toronto), and guest writers Lynne Cooke (New York), Diedrich Diederichsen (Berlin), Sara Krajewski (Seattle), and Shepherd Steiner (Vancouver). The catalogue is available in the MOCA Store for $39.95. Funding: "Rodney Graham: A Little Thought" is organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and the Vancouver Art Gallery. The presentation at MOCA is made possible by generous support from Carol and David Appel, and Audrey M. Irmas. Exhibition support is provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Canada. Exhibition: July 25 - November 29, 2004 Gallery hours: Mon 11am - 5pm, Tue/Wed closed, Thu 11am - 8pm free, Fri 11am - 5pm, Sat/Sun 11am - 6pm, closed New Year's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas MOCA at the Geffen Contemporary 152 North Central Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90013 Telephone +1 213.621.1741 (Visitor Services) Email ttachibana@moca.org www.moca.org |
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