Tony Oursler
Dum-Dum, Metalbreath, Wadcutter
Galleria Emi Fontana
Mon. 28 May – Sat. 28 July 2007
Opening Reception for the Artist:
Monday 28 May at 7 pm
The Gallery is open:
Tue – Sat, 11am – 7.30pm
In July, Mon – Fri, 11am – 7.30pm
Galleria Emi Fontana proudly presents Tony Oursler’s first solo show: Dum-Dum, Metalbreath, Wadcutter, an extremely articulated site-specific installation, which goes beyond the restrictions imposed by a gallery space. Tony Oursler’s practice spans almost three decades during which he has researched different ways of using video. His integration of sculptural elements and projections inside the frame of his installations creates a malleable space in which language and images coexist. At the very core of Tony Oursler’s work lies the will to create a dialogue that invites creative engagement on the part of the viewer. Oursler will transform Emi Fontana’s gallery space into an abstract ‘shooting field’. Spectacular wall video projections of explosions act as background for bullet-shaped sculptural elements of ‘talking heads’. These are weird biomorphic shapes, seductive and repellent at the same time. Images and sounds are synchronized by a sophisticated technological system in a ‘sons et lumiéres’ featuring spectacular visual effects and dramatic audio texts. Tony Oursler’s Dum-Dum, Metalbreath, Wadcutter conveys the tragedy of war and the indiscriminate use and availability of weapons through the apparent dimension of a “fun house”, in contrast with the images of the media in which the representation of the real has lost its power.
Tony Oursler was born in 1957 in New York where he lives and works. His work has been shown in prestigious institutions such as The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; “Documenta VIII, IX,” Kassel; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; “Skulptur Projekte”, Munster; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington and the Tate Liverpool.
For further information, photos, etc., contact Alice Cannavà at 39 02 58306855.
Galleria Emi Fontana Viale Bligny 42 20136 Milano
tel 39 02 58322237 fax 39 02 58306855
Galleria Emi Fontana: Art-38-Basel 13 – 17 June 07 Stand U1 Hall 2.1
Works by: Monica Bonvicini, Mark Dion, Sam Durant, Renèe Green, Mike Kelley, Ketty La Rocca, Lovett/Codagnone, Liliana Moro, Tony Oursler, Adrian Piper, Sterling Ruby, Diana Thater, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Luca Vitone, Cosima von Bonin.
