Casey Kaplan is pleased to announce the exhibition Geoffrey Farmer, “Bacon’s Not The Only Thing That Is Cured By Hanging From A String.” This will be Farmer’s first solo exhibition both at the gallery and in the United States.
Farmer is known internationally for his projects that transform and alter over the course of their exhibitions. His installations are composed of diverse materials and various working methodologies that are rooted in research and in response to site. Farmer creates conceptual works with poetic narratives, often combining his interests in the material production of the art object with theories of psychology and dramatic presentation.
Central to this exhibition, Farmer presents a new series of thirteen illuminated lamp posts interspersed throughout the space. The lamp posts hover between the architectural and figural, as each is comprised of found objects, photomontage materials, props and a light source. The wood posts developed out of Farmer’s interest in Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s, “In a Year with Thirteen Moons” and its opening text:
“Every seventh year is a year of the moon. Certain people, whose existence is influenced mainly by their emotions, suffer from intense depressions in these moon years. This is also true to a lesser degree of years with thirteen new moons. And when a moon year is also a year with thirteen new moons, it often results in inevitable personal catastrophes...”
Along with this series, Farmer will also present a large-scale photomontage wall work titled, “Pulling Your Brains Out Through Your Nose,” which makes reference to the Egyptian mummification process of extracting the brain in order to preserve the body. A multitude of images, cut from various printed sources, are suspended from cut coat hangers and inserted directly into the gallery wall.
In the series, “Lost Dogs and Half-Eaten Apples,” Farmer presents smaller figural works displayed on a low table. Made mostly of clay, wire, bricolage, and lights, these maquette-like pieces read and reference as unusual types of puppets or Kachina dolls. Images are inserted directly into the clay forms, accentuating the materiality of the printed image and their ability to transform, by illusion, into three-dimensional form.
Geoffrey Farmer is currently based in Vancouver. Past solo exhibitions include: Walter Phillips Gallery, The Banff Centre, Banff Alberta (2010), Museo Experimental El Eco, Mexico City, Mexico (2010), Witte de With, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (2008), and the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Quebec (2008). Farmer will open, “Let’s Make the Water Turn Black,” on March 5th at the REDCAT in Los Angeles after completing a month long residency there. The artist will also be participating in the Istanbul Biennial opening September 17 and will have a major solo exhibition planned to open at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada in 2013.
Exhibition View
Pulling Your Brains Out Through Your Nose
2011
Printed material, cut coat hangers, tape
Dimensions variable
(Detail) Pulling Your Brains Out Through Your Nose
2011
Exhibition View
The Greeter
2011
Printed material, wood, metal, paint, tape, foam, boot, computer programmed LEDs
96.5 x 23.5 x 19.5” / 245.1 x 59.7 x 49.5cm
(Detail) The Greeter
2011
Between the Egg and the Coin
2011
Printed material, wood, metal, paint, tape, canvas, fabric, clay, broom, string, battery powered LEDs
96.5 x 53 x 27” / 245.1 x 134.6 x 68.6cm
(Detail) Between the Egg and the Coin
2011
Unclean Thoughts. Mothers of Mud. Harpies. Sleepless Enemies
2011
Printed material, wood, metal, paint, tape, canvas, hat, computer programmed LEDs
103 x 21 x 19.5” / 261.6 x 53.3 x 49.5cm
(Detail) Unclean Thoughts. Mothers of Mud. Harpies. Sleepless Enemies
2011
She Says She’s a Man, Not a Woman
2011
Printed material, wood, metal, paint, tape, fabric, plastic, glass, leather bag, computer programmed LEDs
96.5 x 31 x 27.5” / 245.1 x 78.7 x 69.9cm
(Detail) She Says She’s a Man, Not a Woman
2011
Exhibition view
The Light is Buried Under Chains and Noises
2011
Printed material, wood, metal, paint, tape, paper, glass, foam, battery powered LEDs
109 x 18 x 22” / 276.9 x 45.7 x 55.9cm
(Detail) The Light is Buried Under Chains and Noises
2011
Shadow and Grow
2011
Printed material, wood, metal, paint, tape, foam, plastic, fabric, cardboard, battery powered LEDs
99 x 20 x 27” / 251.5 x 50.8 x 68.6cm
(Detail) Shadow and Grow
2011
Exhibition View
The Life Cycle of Picture-Making
2011
Printed material, wood, metal, paint, tape, foam, glass, clay, artificial plant, battery powered LEDs
102.5 x 20 x 28.5” / 260.4 x 50.8 x 72.4cm
(Detail) The Life Cycle of Picture-Making
2011
Bacon’s Not The Only Thing That Is Cured By Hanging From A String
2011
Two posts: printed material, wood, metal, paint, tape, foam, fabric, computer programmed LEDs
Post 1: 96.5 x 18 x 23” / 245.1 x 45.7 x 58.4cm Post 2: 96.5 x 18 x 18” / 245.1 x 45.7 x 45.7cm
(Detail) Bacon’s Not The Only Thing That Is Cured By Hanging From A String
2011
Wishing You The Best
2011
Printed material, wood, metal, paint, tape, foam, plastic cup, glass, battery powered LEDs
112 x 19 x 30” / 284.5 x 48.3 x 76.2cm
(Detail) Wishing You The Best
2011
Tongue Standing Upright
2011
Printed material, wood, metal, paint, tape, plastic bag, foam, battery powered LEDs
96.5 x 18 x 27.5” / 245.1 x 45.7 x 69.9cm
(Detail) Tongue Standing Upright
2011
Little Feather
2011
Printed material, wood, metal, paint, tape, fabric, woven hat, drum, battery powered LEDs
96.5 x 28 x 30” / 245.1 x 71.1 x 76.2cm
(Detail) Little Feather
2011
Harvest
2011
Printed material, wood, metal, paint, tape, foam, fabric, cardboard, artificial plant, computer programmed LEDs
124 x 44 x 35” / 315 x 111.8 x 88.9cm
(Detail) Harvest
2011
Exhibition View
Using Your Hands
2011
Printed material, metal, glass, canvas
12 x 10 x 9” / 30.5 x 25.4 x 22.9cm
Worm Finds Rock
2011
Printed material, foam, paper plate, wire, tape
12 x 9.5 x 9” / 30.5 x 24.1 x 22.9cm
My Reputation as a Kabuki
2011
Printed material, umbrella, vinyl, wood, string, tape
16 x 21 x 16” / 40.6 x 53.3 x 40.6cm
Light Separated Into 7 Columns, No. 1
2011
Printed material, fabric, tape
Dimensions variable
Lost Dogs and Half-Eaten Apples
2011
29 figures: clay, printed material, computer programed LEDs, wood table
Dimensions variable
(Detail) Lost Dogs and Half-Eaten Apples
2011
(Detail) Lost Dogs and Half-Eaten Apples
2011
(Detail) Lost Dogs and Half-Eaten Apples
2011
Naked to the Bone
2011
Printed material, wire, tape
35.5 x 20.5 x 6.5” / 90.2 x 52.1 x 16.5cm
All the World’s Light Fits Inside An Eye
2011
Printed material, wood, glass, cardboard
17.5 x 8 x 8” / 44.5 x 20.3 x 20.3cm
Making the Clay Match the Image
2011
Printed material, foam, tape, glass, pins
17.5 x 8 x 8” / 44.5 x 20.3 x 20.3cm
Rauschenberg’s Toe
2011
Wood, battery powered LED powered LED
95 x 3.5 x 17.25” / 241.3 x 8.9 x 43.8cm
(Detail) Rauschenberg’s Toe
2011
Peacock Hunters
2011
Printed material, fabric, tape
66.5 x 67 x 35” / 168.9 x 170.2 x 88.9cm
(Detail) Peacock Hunters
2011
Printed material, fabric, tape
66.5 x 67 x 35” / 168.9 x 170.2 x 88.9cm
Bacon’s Not The Only Thing That Is Cured By Hanging From A String
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