Grand Openings
Grand OpeningsSep 13–Nov 30, 2009
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SculptureCenter is pleased to present a new exhibition by Grand Openings, on view September 13-November 30, 2009 with an opening reception on Sunday, September 13 from 5-7pm.
Founded in 2005 by Ei Arakawa, Jutta Koether, Jay Sanders, Emily Sundblad, and Stefan Tcherepnin, Grand Openings is a cooperation of artists working in different disciplines uniting performance, acting, singing, painting and critique. They create a mise-en-scène of overlapping actions, loosely defined choreography and chaotic structures with multiple identities and often dissonant iterations.
Readily shifting between a multimedia event, an entertainment, a learning experience, and a kind of disorderly order to be encountered by viewers and participants, the exhibition at SculptureCenter presents a series of unique posters and a limited edition Grand Openings publication. Documenting public performances and privately staged actions, the installation acts both as an archive of the collaborative group's past and a preview or diagram for future scenarios. By also exploring how their performances can take the form of printed matter, Grand Openings continues to challenge the presumed roles of performers, producers, directors, and observers. A limited edition publication documenting the history of Grand Openings accompanies the exhibition.
Grand Openings has appeared at the Anthology Film Archives as part of Performa05, (New York, 2005), magical Artroom (Tokyo, 2006), Echglo-Tsumari Art Triennial (Nigata, Japan, 2006), MUMOK (Vienna, 2008), the Henry Art Gallery at the Bumbershoot Arts Festival (Seattle, 2008), and Art Basel Statements (Basel, 2009). Their videos have been shown at the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH; Kunsthalle Zürich; and Tbilisi 3 and Tibilisi 4 (Tbilisi, Georgia).
Sponsors
SculptureCenter's exhibitions and public programs are supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts and The Lily Auchincloss Foundation. Special thanks to Taka Ishii Gallery for their assistance with Grand Openings.