In the House of the Trembling Eye

With: Gertrude Abercrombie, Rodolfo Abularach, Julio Alpuy, Janine Antoni, Herbert Bayer, Lynda Benglis, Kerstin Brätsch, Joan Brown, Maurizio Cattelan, Vija Celmins, Marc Camille Chaimowicz, Jonathan Lyndon Chase, René Daniëls, Marlene Dumas, Jana Euler, Sylvie Fleury, Lucio Fontana, Ellen Gallagher, Isa Genzken, Jeffrey Gibson, Robert Gober, Wade Guyton, Peter Halley, Hugh Hayden, Eva Hesse, Damien Hirst, Jim Hodges, Roni Horn, Luchita Hurtado, Jacob Isaacszoon van Swanenburg, Rashid Johnson, Anish Kapoor, Allison Katz, Mike Kelley, Ellsworth Kelly, Bharti Kher, Karen Kilimnik, Yayoi Kusama, Nancy Lupo, Kerry James Marshall, Julie Mehretu, Joan Mitchell, Artist’s studio ephemera from the studio of Ron Mueck, Jill Mulleady, Elizabeth Murray, Alice Neel, Mary Obering, Elizabeth Peyton, Susannah Phillips, Gerhard Richter, Dorothea Rockburne, Ed Ruscha, Amy Sillman, Alina Szapocznikow, Paul Thek, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Fredrik Værslev, Cecilia Vicuña, Charline von Heyl, Cathy Wilkes, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Lisa Yuskavage, and unknown Pompeiian wall painters.

In the House of the Trembling Eye is an expansive group exhibition staged by the London-based artist Allison Katz across the entirety of the Aspen Art Museum, organized in collaboration with the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. Bringing together over one hundred artworks and objects in varied styles from different epochs, this exhibition brings to the fore unexpected affinities, celebrating the inexhaustible capacity of painting to generate new conversations across time.

For over a decade, Katz has investigated the ways in which aesthetic practices link and absorb personal narrative, commodity culture, information systems, and art history. Her diverse, often humorously self-aware imagery traverses painting, posters, ceramics, and installations. It is through the act of revisiting and transforming her own motifs that the artist creates a language and lineage from one work to another.

Invited to bring to life an exhibition incorporating works from personal art collections in and around Aspen, Katz approached both curation and display as extensions of the act of painting itself. In the House of the Trembling Eye presents her works, both new and recent, alongside artworks by over fifty artists as well as a series of fragments of frescoes from Pompeii. This exhibition is the first in North America to unite contemporary art with these ancient fresco fragments, many of which have never previously traveled to the United States.

In the House of the Trembling Eye is an exhibition staged by Allison Katz. Research and concept development by Katz and Stella Bottai, Senior Curator at Large, in curatorial dialogue with Nicola Lees, Nancy and Bob Magoon Director; Daniel Merritt, Director of Curatorial Affairs; and Simone Krug, Curator at the Aspen Art Museum. Exhibition architecture is designed by Katz with Caitlin Tobias Kenessey.

In the House of the Trembling Eye is organized in collaboration with the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. Exhibition research was developed in the context of Allison Katz’s Digital Fellowship as part of the Pompeii Commitment. Archaeological Matters program at the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Italy. Additional research support was provided by the Department of Asian, African and Mediterranean Studies at Università degli Studi di Napoli L’Orientale, Naples, Italy. 

AAM exhibitions are made possible by the Marx Exhibition Fund. General exhibition support is provided by the Toby Devan Lewis Visiting Artist Fund. Additional support for In the House of the Trembling Eye is provided by the AAM National Council with special thanks to Hauser & Wirth.