New Work by Jeff Gabel

Gabel specializes in scribbly, small-scale pencil drawings of people or faces, possibly imaginary, with a line of text explaining who they are or what they were thinking at the time they were observed. Gabel’s empathetic exploration of the contemporary American landscape finds moments in the everyday that transcend the banal.

The iMOCA show will include a large graphite and charcoal drawing which Gabel will create directly on the museum’s walls; a number of graphite drawings on gesso board; and a video piece, an illustrated audio-visual adaptation of Thomas Mann’s short story “Gladius Dei,” rendered from the original German into “a grammatically impoverished (yet profanity-rich) contemporary vernacular.”

Exhibition made possible through the support of Katz & Korin, Efroymson Fund, 92.3 WTTS, Rowland Design, IMC, NUVO, The Indianapolis Foundation, Allen Whitehall Clowes Charitable Foundation, Stellar Gin, Arts Council of Indianapolis, and LevelSix.

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July 13 – September 1, 2007

XANADU

Armageddon is set to a disco beat in Robert Boyd’s four-part video installation Xanadu, which kicks off the grand re-opening of iMOCA. Boyd, a New York-based artist, used rapid editing to combine images from vintage documentary films, TV and Internet clips, and cartoons into a history of apocalyptic thought–presented as a series of MTV-style music videos in a disco-like setting.

Exhibition made possible through the support of Katz & Korin, Efroymson Fund, 92.3 WTTS, Rowland Design, IMC, NUVO, The Indianapolis Foundation, Allen Whitehall Clowes Charitable Foundation, Stellar Gin, Arts Council of Indianapolis, and LevelSix.

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February 3 – March 24, 2007

Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellows

The Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art (iMOCA) is proud to exhibit artworks by ten talented local contemporary artists, all of whom have been awarded $20,000 grants from the Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowship program over the past two years. Since 2004, the Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowship, which is managed by the Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF), has recognized some of the city’s most gifted contemporary artists. A reception for the artists will take place Friday, February 2, 2007, from 6:00 – 9:00 pm at iMOCA. The exhibition will continue through March 24, 2007.

In 2004, Fellowships were awarded to Indianapolis artists Gregory Hull, Linda Adele Goodine, Eric Nordgulen, Marc Jacobson, and David Russick. 2005 Fellows include Katrin Asbury, Stuart Hyatt, Emily W. Kennerk, Brian Myers, and Jamie Pawlus.

This award is unique because it is available to almost any central Indiana artist with very few restrictions. While the artists must be 25 or older and work in photography, painting, sculpture, new media or installation art, those applying for the award are not required to have a degree or a minimum amount of experience. Efroymson Fellows can use the money any way they choose — for living expenses, equipments and supplies, studio rental, travel essential to artistic research, or to complete work.

“The Efroymson Fellowships are intended to get funds directly to individual creative people in our city,” said Jeremy Efroymson, vice chair and one of three Efroymson Fund advisors. “By supporting creativity we can make Indianapolis a vibrant cultural center, a place where creative people choose to live.”

Exhibition made possible through the support of Katz & Korin, Efroymson Fund, 92.3 WTTS, IMC, NUVO, The Indianapolis Foundation, Allen Whitehall Clowes, Arts Council of Indianapolis, and Jim and Meg Irsay.
Above: Stuart Hyatt: Shrimp Attack. Courtesy of the artist.

Designs by Ron Arad

The Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art is proud to announce an exhibition of designs by Ron Arad. Arad is one of todays most creative and versatile furniture artists and designers of our time.

Born in Tel Aviv in 1951, architect and designer Ron Arad studied at the Jerusalem Academy of Art and at the Architectural Association in London. He was Professor of Design at the Hochschule in Vienna from 1994 to 1997, and is currently head of the Design Products Department at the Royal College of Art In London. Arad has exhibited his sculpture and furniture at major museums and galleries internationally and his work is represented in numerous public collections including the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y.; Victoria & Alberta Museum, London; and the Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany.

Exhibition made possible through the support of Katz & Korin, the Efroymson Fund, 92.3 WTTS, Arts Council of Indianapolis, NUVO, Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Fund, IMC, Endangered Species Chocolate, and Christel DeHaan Family Foundation.
Above: Ron Arad: Lo-Void, 2005, Polished Super-inflated aluminum
Courtesy of Barry Friedman Ltd, New York

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September 10 – November 5, 2005

An Exhibition of New Pastels by Tim Gardner

The Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art is proud to announce an exhibition of new pastels by Tim Gardner. Gardner’s new work consists of larger than life-sized pastel portraits based on photographs found in his family’s archive. Known primarily for his watercolors of adolescents striving to become adults, Gardner’s new work continues to investigate identity by looking more closely at his own past.

Gardner, born in Iowa City, IA, now resides and works in Canada. Gardner’s work is charged with elegance and at times humor. Many of these pieces invite us to recall a simpler period of few worries, and in doing so they awaken a familiar feeling of nostalgia. But neither life nor art is ever so simple. Simultaneously confirming and deconstructing reality, his portraits also expose a tension within the viewer that most professional photographers don’t reveal. Gardner’s message: unease. Powerfully, Gardner’s mastery of the mediums he works with increases our uneasiness and in doing so reinforces our intimate connection with his art.

Exhibition made possible through the support of Katz & Korin, the Efroymson Fund, 92.3 WTTS, Arts Council of Indianapolis, NUVO, Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Fund, IMC, and Endangered Species Chocolate.
Above: Tim Gardner: Untitled (Family Portrait 1), 2005, Pastel on gessoed paper mounted on canvas.
Courtesy of the Rachofsky Collection, Dallas

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July 23 – September 3, 2005

Hugh & Alethea

A solo exhibition by New York based collaborative artists Hugh and Alethea. In From Indiana, With Love…, the photo tandem continues an ongoing study of rural America. Drawing on the artists’ shared cultural background, this body of work presents beautiful and dispossessed young women, yearning for recognition and displaying their inherent sexuality. Simultaneous with their empty lives is their all too apparent beauty that the artists draw out with care and sensitivity.

Hugh (b. 1978, Dallas, TX) and Alethea (b. 1979, Bloomington, IN) have been collaborating for five years. Having met the first day of college, they have influenced each other’s photographic style from the start. Their rural upbringing reveals itself in their joint style, which exhibits a strong influence of the glossies and the mainstream culture that they portray. This is Hugh & Alethea’s first solo exhibition in the Midwest.

Exhibition made possible through the support of Katz & Korin, the Efroymson Fund, 92.3 WTTS, Arts Council of Indianapolis, NUVO, Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Fund, IMC, Endangered Species Chocolate, and Christel DeHaan Family Foundation.
Above: Hugh & Alethea: Bluex Kyack, 2004, C-Print
Courtesy of the artists and Rare Gallery, New York

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May 5 – July 9, 2005

Altered Spaces

Artists’ interpretations of interior and exterior spaces are showcased by site-specific installations and other mediums that renegotiate physical space. Participating artists include Robert Beck, Greg Hull, Jesper Just, Vincent Lamouroux and Sean McFarland.

Robert Beck’s installation literally turns space on its side as he transforms a corner of the gallery. Greg Hull’s installation Night Orchid, a kinetic light sculpture to be placed permanently on the roof of the historic Emelie Building, will alter the cityscape as it will be visible from surrounding neighborhoods as well as respond to altering climatic conditions. Patrons will be able to screen Jesper Just’s film “Bliss and Heaven” in a semi trailer video lounge located in front of the iMOCA galleries. Just’s film follows a young man on his quest to reveal an older man’s secret life and sexuality. Internationally exhibited artistVincent Lamouroux will create a site-specific floor installation in the iMOCA galleries such as has been exhibited in New York, Miami and Paris. The piece will have a spellbinding effect, transforming the perception of our surroundings and encouraging patrons to interact with the environment with renewed self-consciousness. The photographs of Sean McFarland, characterized by a dramatic depth of field, reduce generic cityscapes to the scale of a model train set.

Exhibition made possible through the support of Katz & Korin, the Efroymson Fund, Arts Council of Indianapolis, NUVO, and IMC. Installation made possible by Lowes Home Improvement Centers of Indianapolis.
Above: Vincent Lamouroux: Sol, 2005, Wood and wood screws, Site specific installation
Courtesy of the artist and Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York

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March 4 – April 15, 2009

Rashid Johnson
A Production of Escapism

Escapism is the tendency to seek distraction and relief from reality, especially through the arts and in fantasy. In this exhibition Johnson explores escapist tendencies in a multi-media project of photos, video, and site-specific installation to reveal reality and often the absurdity of it all.

Exhibition made possible through the support of Katz & Korin, the Efroymson Fund, 92.3 WTTS, Arts Council of Indianapolis, and NUVO.
Above: Rashid Johnson: Portrait of My Ex-wife as the Tragic Mulatto, 2004, Lambda print
Courtesy of Moniquemeloche, Chicago

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January 15 – February 26, 2005

Guy Richards Smit
Nausea II

A full-length video project in the cinematic rock opera tradition, is an absurdist journey through crippling doubt, self-discovery, healing, and in the end, unconditional love. The film travels to iMOCA after its debut at Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Exhibition made possible through the support of Katz & Korin, the Efroymson Fund, 92.3 WTTS, Arts Council of Indianapolis, and NUVO.
Above: Guy Richards Smit: Nausea (II), 2004, Video Stills
Courtesy of Roebling Hall Gallery, New York

CREMASTER CYCLE

For the first time in Indiana, Matthew Barney presents the Cremaster cycle in its entirety.

Matthew Barney (born in 1967) launched the cycle in 1994, with the film Cremaster 4 which was followed by Cremasters 1, 5, and 2. This particularly ambitious project, which the artist has worked on exclusively for eight years, concluded this year with Cremaster 3.

From his earliest artistic performances, the American artist, and former athlete, has tested the limits of his own body. Here he pursues this project by referencing different biological mechanisms, such as the ascending and descending movements controlled by the cremaster muscle, as well as the sexual indeterminacy of the embryo during the six weeks after conception, prior to the formation of reproductive organs. This lack of differentiation opens up a realm of potential that the artist uses as a leitmotif throughout his artistic process.

In the spirit of the romantic idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk (the total work of art), Matthew Barney’s practice encompasses all media, without any hierarchy. Drawings, photographs and sculptures accompany the films as autonomous material forms. In this way, a multi-dimensional body of work is elaborated through both space and time.

From the beginning, Matthew Barney has shown a preference for malleable materials—petroleum jelly, wax, plastic resin—in a constant oscillation between form and “informe”. This is revealed in the work that opens the exhibition, Partition, a bar covered in frozen petroleum jelly, a form of which appears in Cremaster 3.

Eschewing linear narration and univocal readings, Matthew Barney develops a multi-referential iconography in his films. Each episode takes place in a specific locale—the Isle of Man, the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, the city of Budapest. Architecture can also be likened to a character in itself, as in the case with Bronco Stadium or the Chrysler Building.

For each Cremaster installment, identified by its own emblem and color, the artist has been inspired by specific epochs and genres. Thus, in his vision mythology mingles with professional athletics, Hollywood cinema with magic, psychoanalysis with “hard-core” music.

Information courtesy of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in New York, the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris and the Ludwig Museum in Cologne.

ALL CREMASTER PHOTOS © MATTHEW BARNEY, COURTESY BARBARA GLADSTONE. ALL PHOTOS BY Michael James O’Brien except CREMASTER 3 Photos: Chris Winget