Carrie Secrist Gallery is pleased to announce two solo exhibitions by gallery artists Anne Lindberg and Michael Robinson, on view from February 15 through March 15, 2014.
Please join us for a reception for the artists on February 15, 2014 from 5-8 PM.
In gallery one, Anne Lindberg presents I have always been going North, a series of mixed media works that join quotidian photographs with linear mark making to examine the landscapes of private and public spaces.
This body of work was created from 2010-11, around the time Lindberg spent in residence in Svolvaer, Norway, a coastal fishing community in the Lofoten archipelago north of the Arctic Circle. In that region, cod, salmon, and herring are fished and put out to dry on large-scale wooden frameworks for “lutefisk,” or dried cod. Inspired by the formal and cultural architectures of these fish racks, Lindberg imitates their basic structures in ink pen atop photographic images of domestic spaces.
The resulting images function as topographical memories, provoking emotion and eroticism through their tactility and luminosity. By intermingling drawn fish racks with abstract pictures of mirrors, slept-in beds, and tile floors, Lindberg engages the histories of the Viking people in Scandinavia (the geographic north) as well as the temperament and sensibility of her personal ancestry.
Anne Lindberg (American, b. 1962) lives and works in Kansas City, MO where she is preparing a forthcoming installation for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2014). Her work is currently on view at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center. I have always been going North is the artist’s second solo exhibition with Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago.
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In gallery two, Michael Robinson presents his newest film The Dark, Krystle (2013). The piece recycles footage from Dynasty, the 1980s primetime soap opera known for its catfights, cliffhanger endings, and glitzy fashion. Through swelling music and rising action, Robinson explores the infinitely repeated gestures of central characters Krystle and Alexis, the angelic housewife and bitter ex-wife of oil tycoon Blake Carrington.
Robinson’s 10-minute montage begins with Krystle Carrington, in a hospital bed, crying, “I died in that fire and I don’t know who I am.” Using fire as both climax and symbol, Robinson smoothly transitions from one gesture to the next – re-running Krystle’s tears, fears, disappointments and worries.
“Game? What game?” Alexis Morell Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan demands, when Robinson introduces her midway through the piece. Donned in coral lipstick and white diamonds, Alexis is an icon of 1980s kitsch. While her ominous voiceovers taunt and threaten Krystle throughout the melodrama, Alexis’ singular menacing activity is drinking.
Throughout the film, the fabric of existence hangs in the balance again… and again…. and again. The rising stakes, however, do not correspond with a narrative arch or conclusion. Instead, Robinson’s montage empowers its viewers to observe everything they are really seeing. Absent of traditional dramatic structure, The Dark, Krystle exposes the artificiality of overdone gestures, specifically as they relate to the consumption habits of late capitalism.
Michael Robinson (American, b. 1981) has screened work in solo and group shows at festivals, museums, and galleries nationally and internationally including the 2012 Whitney Biennial; International Film Festival Rotterdam; The Walker Art Center; Tate Modern; and the Sundance Film Festival. Previous screenings of The Dark, Krystle include the 51st New York Film Festival; Dirty Looks NYC, Brooklyn; and DINCA Vision Quest, Chicago.