Accumulate

In addition to his iconic prints, drawings, wall drawings and structures, Sol LeWitt also used photography. Like much of his work, his photographs were arranged in grids, thus balancing the variations of the external world with the order of a strict grid. As a majority of the photographs depict groups of windows (often rectilinear), the grid of 72 photographs is also a grid of grids, in a way. For LeWitt, the results of organizing (aka arranging in a grid) were as, if not more important as the subjects of the actual photographs. “Windows” is an exceedingly rare work from 1980 and is LeWitt’s only editioned grid of photographs.

In addition to his iconic prints, drawings, wall drawings and structures, Sol LeWitt also used photography. Like much of his work, his photographs were arranged in grids, thus balancing the variations of the external world with the order of a strict grid. As a majority of the photographs depict groups of windows (often rectilinear), the grid of 72 photographs is also a grid of grids, in a way. For LeWitt, the results of organizing (aka arranging in a grid) were as, if not more important as the subjects of the actual photographs. “Windows” is an exceedingly rare work from 1980 and is LeWitt’s only editioned grid of photographs.

In addition to his iconic prints, drawings, wall drawings and structures, Sol LeWitt also used photography. Like much of his work, his photographs were arranged in grids, thus balancing the variations of the external world with the order of a strict grid. As a majority of the photographs depict groups of windows (often rectilinear), the grid of 72 photographs is also a grid of grids, in a way. For LeWitt, the results of organizing (aka arranging in a grid) were as, if not more important as the subjects of the actual photographs. “Windows” is an exceedingly rare work from 1980 and is LeWitt’s only editioned grid of photographs.

In addition to his iconic prints, drawings, wall drawings and structures, Sol LeWitt also used photography. Like much of his work, his photographs were arranged in grids, thus balancing the variations of the external world with the order of a strict grid. As a majority of the photographs depict groups of windows (often rectilinear), the grid of 72 photographs is also a grid of grids, in a way. For LeWitt, the results of organizing (aka arranging in a grid) were as, if not more important as the subjects of the actual photographs. “Windows” is an exceedingly rare work from 1980 and is LeWitt’s only editioned grid of photographs.

In addition to his iconic prints, drawings, wall drawings and structures, Sol LeWitt also used photography. Like much of his work, his photographs were arranged in grids, thus balancing the variations of the external world with the order of a strict grid. As a majority of the photographs depict groups of windows (often rectilinear), the grid of 72 photographs is also a grid of grids, in a way. For LeWitt, the results of organizing (aka arranging in a grid) were as, if not more important as the subjects of the actual photographs. “Windows” is an exceedingly rare work from 1980 and is LeWitt’s only editioned grid of photographs.

Cindy Sherman rose to prominence with the “Untitled Film Stills” (1977–80), a series of photographs in which the artist captured herself enacting seemingly familiar pop culture clichés. The untitled work in this presentation was made during the time of this series. The work portrays one character posing while wearing (perhaps holiday) ice skating attire. With the generally hazy background, intentional posing and prominence of her signature, Sherman creates a work that is both in line with her role-playing activities and also an extension of that practice. Sherman has created a physical object that is a stand-in for an actor’s or celebrity’s photographic headshot (that one would sign and give out to potential employers and/or fans). Within the details of the costume, the subject’s pose and the work’s overall presentation, Sherman is critiquing the construction of identity, whether in art, fame, and/or photography. As is true throughout her career, Sherman draws attention to the artificiality and ambiguity of stereotypes and thus helps viewers understand a much more complicated reality.

Cindy Sherman rose to prominence with the “Untitled Film Stills” (1977–80), a series of photographs in which the artist captured herself enacting seemingly familiar pop culture clichés. The untitled work in this presentation was made during the time of this series. The work portrays one character posing while wearing (perhaps holiday) ice skating attire. With the generally hazy background, intentional posing and prominence of her signature, Sherman creates a work that is both in line with her role-playing activities and also an extension of that practice. Sherman has created a physical object that is a stand-in for an actor’s or celebrity’s photographic headshot (that one would sign and give out to potential employers and/or fans). Within the details of the costume, the subject’s pose and the work’s overall presentation, Sherman is critiquing the construction of identity, whether in art, fame, and/or photography. As is true throughout her career, Sherman draws attention to the artificiality and ambiguity of stereotypes and thus helps viewers understand a much more complicated reality.

Haim Steinbach is interested in the shared social ritual of collecting, arranging and presenting objects; an experience that on a basic level extends to us all, whether it’s through the way we arrange the objects in our homes, or the way we select and wear our clothes. For Steinbach, objects have a function similar to language. We have feelings about objects; we project onto them and communicate through them. They provoke a variety of possible cultural or psychological associations leading to an infinite chain of meanings. In his ‘display’ works, he uses shelves and cabinets as devices that underscore an otherwise ordinary object, allowing us to consider its aesthetic, cultural and social evocations without prejudice or presumption. Often our response to the object may be ambivalent; we may find ourselves to be simultaneously fascinated, repulsed and seduced.

Steinbach has said that his work is “about vernacular, which is a common form of language: things that we make, express and produce” and that it is “not only about selecting and arranging objects of my own choice, but also presenting the objects chosen by others.” He often refers to the structures he builds for the objects he presents as “framing devices.” Steinbach sets up comparisons within his work between ‘high’ versus ‘low’ culture, the unique versus the multiple, the personal versus the universal. Furthermore, to use a more traditional description, while the elements come from vastly different social and cultural contexts, the artist puts them together in a way that is analogous to the arrangement of words in a poem, or to the musical notes in a score.

Haim Steinbach is interested in the shared social ritual of collecting, arranging and presenting objects; an experience that on a basic level extends to us all, whether it’s through the way we arrange the objects in our homes, or the way we select and wear our clothes. For Steinbach, objects have a function similar to language. We have feelings about objects; we project onto them and communicate through them. They provoke a variety of possible cultural or psychological associations leading to an infinite chain of meanings. In his ‘display’ works, he uses shelves and cabinets as devices that underscore an otherwise ordinary object, allowing us to consider its aesthetic, cultural and social evocations without prejudice or presumption. Often our response to the object may be ambivalent; we may find ourselves to be simultaneously fascinated, repulsed and seduced.

Steinbach has said that his work is “about vernacular, which is a common form of language: things that we make, express and produce” and that it is “not only about selecting and arranging objects of my own choice, but also presenting the objects chosen by others.” He often refers to the structures he builds for the objects he presents as “framing devices.” Steinbach sets up comparisons within his work between ‘high’ versus ‘low’ culture, the unique versus the multiple, the personal versus the universal. Furthermore, to use a more traditional description, while the elements come from vastly different social and cultural contexts, the artist puts them together in a way that is analogous to the arrangement of words in a poem, or to the musical notes in a score.

Mike Bidlo is best known for his accurate replications of masterworks by important twentieth century artists, including Constantin Brancusi, Marcel Duchamp, Yves Klein, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Man Ray and Andy Warhol. Bidlo’s earliest pieces were partially performances, such as “Jack the Dripper at Peg’s Place” (1982) for which he painted replicas of Jackson Pollock’s drip paintings and re-enacted Pollock’s infamous act of urinating into Peggy Guggenheim’s fireplace (which Bidlo finds relevant to Pollock’s painting technique and is related to Bidlo’s later recreations of Warhol’s urine splashed “Oxidation” paintings).

In “Not Baldessari (I will not make any more boring art, 1971),” Bidlo pays homage to one of the biggest appropriation artists of the post-war era, the late John Baldessari (1931-2020). Bidlo has appropriated Baldessari’s first and most iconic print edition, a project that was originally realized by Baldessari at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design’s famed lithography workshop in 1971.

Bidlo is a staunch aficionado of twentieth-century modern art and his recreations of masterpieces are done with a sense of appreciation and devotion, and as an exploration into the concepts of originality and creativity. He is a member of the generation of artists, including Louise Lawler, Sherrie Levine, Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman and Haim Steinbach, who emerged in the 1980s and practiced appropriating subjects and images from popular culture and art history into their own art. Bidlo describes his artistic activity: “My work is perhaps an extreme example of this strain of art which references other art because it directly mirrors the image, scale, and materials of the original. Whatever differences appear in my work are a consequence of my working method and not an attempt at projecting a personal style.”

Mike Bidlo was born in Chicago in 1953, and studied at the University of Illinois, Chicago (BA, 1973); Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (MFA, 1975); and Columbia University, New York (MA, 1978). Bidlo lives and works in New York City. His work has been exhibited at the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; New Museum, New York; PS 1/MoMA, Queens, NY; Sezon Museum, Tokyo; Saatchi Collection, London; and Fondation Cartier, Paris.

Mike Bidlo is best known for his accurate replications of masterworks by important twentieth century artists, including Constantin Brancusi, Marcel Duchamp, Yves Klein, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Man Ray and Andy Warhol. Bidlo’s earliest pieces were partially performances, such as “Jack the Dripper at Peg’s Place” (1982) for which he painted replicas of Jackson Pollock’s drip paintings and re-enacted Pollock’s infamous act of urinating into Peggy Guggenheim’s fireplace (which Bidlo finds relevant to Pollock’s painting technique and is related to Bidlo’s later recreations of Warhol’s urine splashed “Oxidation” paintings).

In “Not Baldessari (I will not make any more boring art, 1971),” Bidlo pays homage to one of the biggest appropriation artists of the post-war era, the late John Baldessari (1931-2020). Bidlo has appropriated Baldessari’s first and most iconic print edition, a project that was originally realized by Baldessari at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design’s famed lithography workshop in 1971.

Bidlo is a staunch aficionado of twentieth-century modern art and his recreations of masterpieces are done with a sense of appreciation and devotion, and as an exploration into the concepts of originality and creativity. He is a member of the generation of artists, including Louise Lawler, Sherrie Levine, Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman and Haim Steinbach, who emerged in the 1980s and practiced appropriating subjects and images from popular culture and art history into their own art. Bidlo describes his artistic activity: “My work is perhaps an extreme example of this strain of art which references other art because it directly mirrors the image, scale, and materials of the original. Whatever differences appear in my work are a consequence of my working method and not an attempt at projecting a personal style.”

Mike Bidlo was born in Chicago in 1953, and studied at the University of Illinois, Chicago (BA, 1973); Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (MFA, 1975); and Columbia University, New York (MA, 1978). Bidlo lives and works in New York City. His work has been exhibited at the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; New Museum, New York; PS 1/MoMA, Queens, NY; Sezon Museum, Tokyo; Saatchi Collection, London; and Fondation Cartier, Paris.