Tales from the other side of town: KIM GORDON: "SWAY

Τετάρτη 2 Δεκεμβρίου 2009

KIM GORDON: "SWAY - A WAY IN".

Sway: A way in
Kim Gordon's art and performance in Heerlen, the Netherlands on the 18th of april 2008.
At 18:00 hours on Friday 18th April, the Glaspaleis in Heerlen will open the unique exhibition ‘Sway: A Way In’ by the American artist, musician and exhibition organiser Kim Gordon, mainly known from her prominent role in the legendary band Sonic Youth. In her solo exhibition, she displays a new series of water colours as part of a larger installation. ‘Sway: A Way In’ is Kim Gordon’s first solo exhibition in the Netherlands. The exhibition can be seen in the Glaspaleis from Friday 18th April to Sunday 15th June. An artist’s book will appear at the exhibition in a limited edition.
In her new water colour series, Gordon shows a number of elusive, transparent portraits. Painted in subtle, thin water colour strokes, these volatile, ethereal images create the illusion of faces in an audience as seen from the perspective of a (performing) artist. The series will form part of a larger installation which Kim Gordon herself will realise on site. She uses a variety of materials, media and techniques and there is also an added musical dimension. A video production, which will be projected on the Glaspaleis facade during the evening, is the finishing touch of this unique solo presentation.
In her work, Kim Gordon expresses her interest in the interaction between the artist and the public and the uncontested power an artist seems to have on stage. Gordon was inspired to this series of water colours when she projected video clips of the public onto the podium while performing. As one can manipulate the focus of a video projector in order to blur all projected images, one can also look for the borders of outlining and abstraction and study how abstract the images of the public can be made without their faces losing their identifiable features, which Gordon made her challenge in these water colours. The use of metallic pigments creates the illusion of a spotlight being aimed at the audience which reverses the roles of the artist and
the audience.
Kim Gordon is an important international icon of our times. She has lived and worked in New York and South Hampton since 1980. She studied at the Otis College of Art and Design in LA and in the early eighties she worked for various galleries including Annina Nosei Gallery and White Columns. As an art critic she has published in Art Forum, ZG Magazine, Real Life and various catalogues. In 1981, Gordon forms the band Sonic Youth together with Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo and Richard Edson, with whom she has since released numerous albums and played at all the important clubs and major festivals worldwide. In addition, she set up the band Freetime with Julie Cafritz in 1992. She also directed the video for The Breeders, coproduced Hole’s ‘Pretty On The Inside’ CD and started X Girl, a clothing line specialising in skater fashion for girls, in 1994. In 1996 Gordon participated in the ‘Baby Generation’ display in Parco Gallery in Tokyo, Japan, after which she continued with the ‘I Love New York’ exhibition held at the Ludwig Museum in Cologne. Kim’s work, that can be defined as avant-garde, has since been exhibited in Japan, the US and parts of Europe. ‘Sway: A Way In’ is Kim Gordon’s first solo exhibition in the Netherlands. In 2000, as a guest curator, she created a group exhibition entitled ‘Kim’s bedroom’ for the MU in Eindhoven.