Bjoern Melhus
Eastern_Western_Park
21 December 2005 - 22 January 2006
Honolulu Academy of Arts
900 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96814-1495
Telephone: (808) 532-8700
Facsimile: (808) 532-8787
The Honolulu Academy of Arts will present Bjorn Melhus: Eastern_ Western_Park December 21, 2005 through January 22, 2006 in the Claire Boothe Luce Gallery.
Born in Kirchheim/Tech in southwestern Germany in 1966, Melhus has worked and studied in both Europe and the United States. The Academys presentation of his major video installation, Eastern_Western_Park, is the second exhibition in a new series of works by contemporary masters, which began earlier this year with an exhibition of paintings by Neo Rauch.
Eastern_Western_Park is built conceptually on two sets of stereotypes prevalent in the Western world. The first comprises classic and often thoroughly misunderstood images of Native Americans and cowboys of the Old West, as presented through the best-selling popular novels of the German author Karl May (1842-1912). His stories, which were later serialized on German television, were based on a combination of propagandistic views of the American West and his own imagination. Significantly, May never actually visited the American West, yet his stories were hugely popular and are still published, including in English translation.
Superimposed on this are equally stereotypical and ambiguous images of the Japanese schoolgirl. Significantly, these images are generated primarily in Japan, yet have taken hold in the Western mind as well. As Melhus himself admits, his interpretation of such images are solely based on imagination and media influences. As such, the video installation Eastern_Western_Park plays on two coexisting sets of imaginary perceptions, simultaneously widespread and naive. The entire installation is a vivid commentary on the degree to which many of our views of the world are informed by nonsense, with all the reality of a theme park.
Melhuss exhibitions are known for their rapid assault of images, washes of color, and barrages of audio snippets, often using multiple video monitors and projectors to accomplish exciting and provocative multi-media installations. Melhus has exhibited his work at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, Long Beach Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and a variety of museums in Europe and Japan.
Melhus installation is accompanied by a limited edition artists book documenting the work Eastern_Western_Park .
The Contemporary Masters @ Honolulu Academy of Arts series began in December 2004 with Neo Rauch: The Leipziger Volkszeitung Collection 1994-2002, the only North American solo museum exhibition of Neo Rauchs work.
For more information on Eastern_Western_Park , call the Academy at (808) 532-8700. The Honolulu presentation of this exhibition is coordinated by Academy Director, Stephen Little.
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