Aaron Curry & Thomas Houseago
Two Face
14 May – 1 August 2009
Opening Reception:
Friday 29 May, 5-7pm
P.O. Box 1661
108 E. San Antonio
Marfa, Tx 79843
ballroommarfa.org
The sculptures of Aaron Curry (b. 1972 San Antonio, TX) and Thomas Houseago (b. 1972 Leeds, England) are monuments for the twenty-first century–with contemporary pop culture given gravitas by the presence of the historical avant-garde. Foregoing an ironic appropriation and the rapid-fire referencing that has come to define their generation of artists, Curry’s and Houseago’s works are the aftermath of a violent, instantaneous fusion between relics of our cultural past and the aesthetic sensibilities of the now.
In Curry’s sculptures are the traces of Picasso’s disembodied forms, as well as his watershed disruption of spatial representation. The flattened anthropomorphic forms of Miro and Tanguy have survived too, and they’ve evolved with the times, sporting anodized aluminum surfaces, high gloss auto finishes, and free form spray sketch, in palettes ranging from the solemn to the scintillating.
The plays between solid and planar forms are rife in Curry’s works, evoking in part the legacy of Jean Arp pushed into a more realized third dimension. The sustained tension between two-dimensional media and the sculptural is the same force that keeps Curry’s historical and contemporary pop engaged in the present–the same two-faced approach that allows a commitment to abstraction at the same time as figuration.
In Thomas Houseago’s deconstructed sculptures, there’s an instantly recognizable grandeur as figures tower in classical and primordial poses. They are formed of materials with a long history in sculpture – wood, plaster and metal – and the modern manifestations of these as plywood and rebar is a marker of the insistent present. The shifts between the illusion of solidity and the actuality of the hollow–the steady flicker between the classical and the postmodern–that give Houseago’s sculptures a solitary resolve.
The mark of Houseago’s hand is present in the uneven plaster surfaces, the drips of slurry on pedestals and the slightly unruly edges of his jigsaw cuts. While they are expressive, Houseago’s pieces also expose the functional details of his process, like the reveal of hessian and rebar that form the skeleton and inner-most tissue of his sculpted forms. Conceptually, they recall the challenges of Boccioni, to show space as a molding device and something to be molded. But they evoke Giacometti’s emaciated figures too, and the drama of Rodin’s poses. The contrasts in aesthetic influences within each piece enact a subtle non sequitur as they undermine the expectations of the viewer.
Two Face includes new and recent sculptures by Curry and Houseago exhibited collaboratively, as well as a Special Edition of prints created with Marfa printmaker Robert Arber.
An opening reception will be held on Friday 29 May 2009, 5-7pm with the artists present.
Generous support for Two Face has been provided by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Brown Foundation, Inc., Houston and Ballroom Marfa members.
Ballroom Marfa would also like to recognize the following organizations and individuals for their generous contributions: Suzanne Deal Booth; David Kordansky, David Kordansky Gallery; Gordon VeneKlasen, Michael Werner Gallery.
Special thanks to KRTS Marfa Public Radio, streaming live at www.marfapublicradio.org.
About Ballroom Marfa
Ballroom Marfa is a dynamic, contemporary cultural arts space that provides a lively intellectual environment where varied perspectives and issues are explored through visual arts, film, music and performance. As an advocate for the freedom of artistic expression, Ballroom Marfa’s mission is to serve international, national, regional and local communities and support the work of both emerging and recognized artists working in all media.
Ballroom Marfa is particularly interested in helping artists and curators achieve projects that have significant cultural impact but would be impossible to realize in a traditional gallery or museum setting.
Ballroom Marfa is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
P.O. BOX 1661 108 EAST SAN ANTONIO STREET MARFA, TEXAS 79843
TEL: 432.729.3600 FAX: 432.729.3606 WWW.BALLROOMMARFA.ORG
