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Altman Siegel is pleased to present the first West Coast
solo
exhibition by artist Sara VanDerBeek. "Of Ruins and
Light"
opens on November 12th, and is comprised of selections from two new bodies
of
work by the New York based artist. VanDerBeek will present "Song
of
Myself," one of three installations of photographs currently on view
as
part of her solo exhibition "To Think
of
Time" at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New
York.
This series will be complimented by several new large works,
which
explore form as both a metaphor and an embodiment of memory, time and
the
artist's
process.
In this exhibition VanDerBeek expands her studio practice to
include
photographs captured on location. Acting out of a desire to both
document
and interpret the current transitional moment in American culture and
the
evolving economic recession, VanDerBeek has traveled in the past year
to
Detroit, California and most recently to New Orleans and Baltimore. These
trips
have informed and influenced the work for this exhibition while they have
also
provided the artist with an opportunity to reflect upon the collective
if
violent nature of our history and the methods through which we as a nation
have
come to understand our current
existence.
The multi-part installation "Song of Myself" is
inspired
by Walt Whitman's shifting compendium "Leaves of Grass."
VanDerBeek draws parallels to Whitman's meditation on time, both momentary
and
endless, the wonder and ultimate brutality of its consequences, and beauty
and
ruination as metaphors for life and death. This deeply personal
series
addresses individual history and the fragmentation of memory. Several of
the
works in this series are inspired by found objects from the artist's
family
home, which are then paired with images of specific places that speak to
a
larger community, invoking the multitude of personal histories that
contribute
to the greater continuum of human
civilization.
Sara VanDerBeek has exhibited extensively. "To Think
of
Time" her solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art runs through
December
5th. She was featured in "New Photography" at MOMA New York and
at
the Tang Museum, Saratoga Springs, New York in 2009. She has had
solo
exhibitions at The Approach, London and D'Amelio Terras, NY. She is
currently
working on an upcoming show at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles and
Metro
Pictures, New
York.
For
more
information, please contact the gallery at 415-576-9300 or info@altmansiegel.com.
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