Playing Homage: Shooting for the Stars
Rodney Graham My Late Early Styles (Part I, The Middle Period) 2007–9 Installation view Courtesy of the artist
Though it’s been nearly 500 years since the first Italian art historian, Giorgio Vasari, published his landmark encyclopedia of artist biographies, the well-worn myth of the individual-artist-as-genius still holds pull over much of the contemporary art world. Whether it’s the superstar status of artists who are recognized by a single name in the museum—think Warhol, Pollock, or, closer to home, Wall—or a more populist interest in the artist as celebrity, as evidenced by the recently announced art-themed reality TV show being produced by Bravo, the notion of the unique artist persona continues to provide fodder for high and low art forms alike.
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Martin Kippenberger Exhibition posters 1978–97 Installation view Courtesy 1301pe |
Now, a group exhibition at Vancouver’s Contemporary Art Gallery, cleverly titled “Playing Homage,” investigates the artist persona as an aesthetic strategy that can be used to create both sincere respect and critical intervention in the space of the gallery. Touted by the CAG as “the exhibition equivalent of a cover song,” the show surveys a spectrum of works, from those that adhere closely to “the original” by adopting a specific artistic identity or legacy—such as the late Martin Kippenberger’s series of exhibition posters where he poses as other prominent art world figures—to those that are more liberal in their interpretations, such as Rodney Graham’s series of self-portraits that operates as a stand-in for stereotypes of the pretentious modernist artist.
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Andrea Fraser Kunst Muss Hängen 2009 Installation view Courtesy of the artist and Friedrich Petzel Gallery |
In other works, such as Andrea Fraser’s painfully awkward re-enactment of one of Kippenberger’s drunken speeches at an exhibition opening or General Idea’s fake televised new conference, 1977 Video Press Conference, there is a more critical look at the role of art institutions in creating and maintaining these personae and the tensions that arise when there are discrepancies between artists’ public and private identities. Rounded out with projects by Kerstin Cmelka, Christos Dikeakos, Mark Leckey, Evan Lee, Martha Wilson and Ming Wong, “Playing Homage” is sure to prompt creative propositions for the important roles that artists can play (or seem to play) in future exhibition making. (555 Nelson St, Vancouver BC)
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Evan Lee Nude and Draped Figure Studies by the Artist and his Father 1950/2008–9 Courtesy of the artist and Clark & Faria/Monte Clark Gallery |
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