Exhibition
The Jack Wolgin International Competition in the Fine Arts was established at Tyler School of Art to recognize an artist with a significant studio practice whose work transcends traditional boundaries. The finalists for the inaugural exhibition are Sanford Biggers, Michael Rakowitz, and Ryan Trecartin. Their works reflect a contemporary impulse to assert an individual sense of agency, whether it be cultural, political, or generational. Each artist specifically elaborates on the concept of identity and its position in a global context. In doing so, their works resist the marginality that identity often generates, and force us to reconsider our perspectives.
Sanford Biggers focuses on the interconnectedness of all cultures and combines traditional symbols, historical references, and images of hip-hop to establish a contemporary sense of African American identity. His work activates collective consciousness and seeks the spiritual in the mundane. Michael Rakowitz examines the impact of the American invasion of Iraq by highlighting the various narratives associated with it. His work makes visible the intangible elements of memory, loss, and anger, and attempts to heighten American recognition of the war. Ryan Trecartin simulates popular modes of communication and technology to reveal their prominent role in identity construction. In his videos, Trecartin and friends continually reinvent themselves as they seek individual meaning. These characters elide singular identity for a multiplicity that better reflects the self as mediated by the Internet.
One critic has stated that Rakowitz’s work “eschews the savvy of cool and intellectual detachment for the more visceral and certainly more vulnerable engagement of sincerity.”1 This is certainly true of each of the artists here. In their attempts to convey the issues significant to them, the artists have succeeded in creating an awareness of conventional perceptions that might require our revision. Their works conflate art and reality, and resound with a vitality that extends far beyond the confines of the gallery walls.
Stacey Wujcik
Master of Arts in Art History candidate, Tyler School of Art
Checklist of Artworks
Sanford Biggers
Bittersweet the Fruit, 2009
Steel, Zoopoxy, bottles, monitor, single channel color video with sound component, DVD player, and headphones
Courtesy of the artist and Michael Klein Arts, New York
Project developed at Harvard University, supported by the Office for the Arts at Harvard
Cheshire, 2009
Aluminum, Plexiglass, LEDs, tracer and timer
Approximately 30 x 26.5 x 10.5 inches
Courtesy of the artist and Michael Klein Arts, New York
Shuffle (The Carnival Within), 2009
Two channel HD color video with sound component, DVD player, external speakers
Courtesy of the artist and Michael Klein Arts, New York
Stills from Shuffle (The Carnival Within), 2009
Two color photographs
Courtesy of the artist and Michael Klein Arts, New York
Michael Rakowitz
The invisible enemy should not exist, 2007/2009
Middle Eastern packaging and newspapers, glue
Dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist and Lombard-Freid Projects, New York
Smoke on the Water
Written by: Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillian,
Roger Glover, Jon Lord, Ian Paice (Deep Purple)
Commissioned especially for this project, performed by Ayyoub
Ryan Trecartin
P.opular S.ky (section ish), 2009
HD Color Video
Courtesy of the artist and Elizabeth Dee, New York
Acknowledgements
Tyler Exhibitions Staff
Shayna V. McConville, Interim Director
Ryan McCartney, Head Preparator
Theresa Kitch, Director of Student Services
David Bruce, Graduate Assistant
Brandon Jones, Graduate Assistant
Stuart Lorimer, Graduate Assistant
Wolgin Exhibition Staff
Sarah Eberle, Exhibition Consultant
Darcey Sawicz, Registrar
Stacey Wujcik, Art History Intern
Thank you to the following:
Samantha Best, New York, NY
Jayne Drost and Tim Saltarelli, Elizabeth Dee, New York, NY
Jessica Eisenthal, Lombard Freid Gallery, New York, NY
Michael Klein, New York, NY
Dr. Richard L. Zettler, Associate Professor of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations at University of Pennsylvania; Associate Curator-in-Charge, Near East Section of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology