FREDERICK KIESLER: OFF THE WALL
March 11 – May 1, 2010
41 East 57th Street
New York, NY 10022
T: 212-319-1996
F: 212-319-4799
http://www.jasonmccoyinc.com
Jason McCoy Gallery is pleased to present FREDERICK KIESLER: OFF THE WALL. Focusing on the artist’s vision of space, the exhibition will be comprised of three Endless House sculptures, several Galaxy paintings, three Grotto for Meditation models, as well as Kiesler’s master drawing of Marcel Duchamp.
THE ENDLESS HOUSE
Kiesler’s vision of a biomorphic, freely flowing, continuous, human-centered living space, which he called the Endless House, dates back to 1922. It was to synthesize painting, sculpture, architecture, and the environment in order to establish a space, which was without a sense of boundaries. Kiesler continued to develop this theme in his architectural designs and sculptures until the end of his life. Describing his idea of the house, he stated that it was to be “endless like the human body—there is no beginning and no end.”
THE GALAXIES
In the 1950s and 1960s, Kiesler worked on a series of paintings, which translated his vision of space into multi-paneled installations that protruded from the wall. Synthesizing painting, sculpture and drawing, the Galaxies are presented as grouped units. To Kiesler, the space between the different paintings was a reflection of the “inner necessity” of the work as a whole, explaining that it was the same as what “breathing is to our body reality.” If viewed from the side, the Galaxies assume a sculptural quality. In 1954, Kiesler wrote: “the traditional division of the plastic arts, sculpture, and architecture, is transmuted and overcome and their fluid unification is now contained within rather than combined from without.”
THE GROTTO FOR MEDITATION
The Grotto for Meditation was commissioned by Mrs. Jane Blaffer Owen in 1963 for New Harmony, Indiana. Though the structure was never built, drawings and models remain. As a center for meditation, the Grotto was to embody Kiesler’s vision of a biormorphic, endless space, in which the human mind would be uninhibited. In addition, the designs reveal a highly developed symbolism: the space is depicted as a shell, alluding to the feminine body as well as to the Christian fish-motif. Kiesler envisioned the Grotto as a center of calm, surrounding it with water that would flow from within.
BIOGRAPHY
Frederick Kiesler was born in 1890 in Tschernovitz, formerly part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which today belongs to the Ukraine. He studied at the Technische Hochschule (1908-09) and at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste (1910-1912) in Vienna. In the following years, he was heavily engaged in theatre, in both Vienna and Berlin, designing stages and choreographing performances. He became a member of the De Stijl group in 1923 and in the following year, he arranged the world premiere of the 16-minute film Ballet mécanique directed by Dudley Murphy and Fernand Léger, with Man Ray, in Vienna. Kiesler moved to New York City in 1926, where he remained until his death in 1965. He collaborated here with the Surrealists, including Marcel Duchamp. Today his works on paper and documents are in the Austrian Frederick and Lillian Kiesler Foundation in Vienna. In 1989 the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, hosted a Kiesler retrospective and in 1996, the Centre Georges Pompidou exhibited “Frederick Kiesler: artiste-architecte.”
The Estate of Frederick Kiesler is represented by Jason McCoy Inc.
Jason McCoy, Inc.
41 East 57th Street
New York, NY 10022
T: 212-319-1996
F: 212-319-4799
http://www.jasonmccoyinc.com
Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 AM – 6 PM
