Sat June 2, 2018
Ragnar Kjartansson: Scenes from Western Culture
SEE EVENT DETAILS
at McEvoy Foundation for the Arts
(see times)
Opening reception Sat, June 2, 5-8pm, exhibition May 25 - September 1, 2018
The McEvoy Foundation for the Arts presents two major installations by Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson: 'Scenes from Western Culture' (2015) and 'Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt' (2015), shown alongside preparatory watercolor sketches. The exhibition explores Kjartansson's fascination with artifice, the sublime, Western dreams and norms, and French Rococo painter Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721).
'Scenes from Western Culture' is a collection of videos depicting a faintly absurd and occasionally ominous vision of Western life. Kjartansson draws inspiration from Watteau's pastoral scenes of aristocrats enjoying various festivities, a style that coined the phrase 'fete galante.'
'Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt' features a series of free-standing paintings of snowy crags. The exposed plywood on the reverse side transforms the sculpture to a theater set. Translated as "only he who knows longing" from a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 'Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt' champions the sublime and the mundane as one.
Ragnar Kjartansson (b. 1976) is an Icelandic artist whose work in video installations, performances, drawings, and paintings play on the history of film, music, visual culture, and literature. His pieces are connected through humor and pathos, with each deeply influenced by the comedy and tragedy of classical theater. Kjartansson's use of duration and repetition to harness collective emotion is a hallmark of his practice.
Public Opening Reception | Saturday, June 2, 2018
show less
The McEvoy Foundation for the Arts presents two major installations by Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson: 'Scenes from Western Culture' (2015) and 'Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt' (2015), shown alongside preparatory watercolor sketches. The exhibition explores Kjartansson's fascination with artifice, the sublime, Western dreams and norms, and French Rococo painter Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721).
'Scenes from Western Culture' is a collection of videos depicting a faintly absurd and occasionally ominous vision of Western life. Kjartansson draws inspiration from Watteau's pastoral scenes of aristocrats enjoying various festivities, a style that coined the phrase 'fete galante.'
'Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt' features a series of free-standing paintings of snowy crags. The exposed plywood on the reverse side transforms the sculpture to a theater set. Translated as "only he who knows longing" from a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 'Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt' champions the sublime and the mundane as one.
Ragnar Kjartansson (b. 1976) is an Icelandic artist whose work in video installations, performances, drawings, and paintings play on the history of film, music, visual culture, and literature. His pieces are connected through humor and pathos, with each deeply influenced by the comedy and tragedy of classical theater. Kjartansson's use of duration and repetition to harness collective emotion is a hallmark of his practice.
Public Opening Reception | Saturday, June 2, 2018
Opening reception Sat, June 2, 5-8pm, exhibition May 25 - September 1, 2018
The McEvoy Foundation for the Arts presents two major installations by Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson: 'Scenes from Western Culture' (2015) and 'Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt' (2015), shown alongside preparatory watercolor sketches. The exhibition explores Kjartansson's fascination with artifice, the sublime, Western dreams and norms, and French Rococo painter Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721).
'Scenes from Western Culture' is a collection of videos depicting a faintly absurd and occasionally ominous vision of Western life. Kjartansson draws inspiration from Watteau's pastoral scenes of aristocrats enjoying various festivities, a style that coined the phrase 'fete galante.'
'Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt' features a series of free-standing paintings of snowy crags. The exposed plywood on the reverse side transforms the sculpture to a theater set. Translated as "only he who knows longing" from a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 'Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt' champions the sublime and the mundane as one.
Ragnar Kjartansson (b. 1976) is an Icelandic artist whose work in video installations, performances, drawings, and paintings play on the history of film, music, visual culture, and literature. His pieces are connected through humor and pathos, with each deeply influenced by the comedy and tragedy of classical theater. Kjartansson's use of duration and repetition to harness collective emotion is a hallmark of his practice.
Public Opening Reception | Saturday, June 2, 2018
read more
The McEvoy Foundation for the Arts presents two major installations by Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson: 'Scenes from Western Culture' (2015) and 'Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt' (2015), shown alongside preparatory watercolor sketches. The exhibition explores Kjartansson's fascination with artifice, the sublime, Western dreams and norms, and French Rococo painter Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721).
'Scenes from Western Culture' is a collection of videos depicting a faintly absurd and occasionally ominous vision of Western life. Kjartansson draws inspiration from Watteau's pastoral scenes of aristocrats enjoying various festivities, a style that coined the phrase 'fete galante.'
'Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt' features a series of free-standing paintings of snowy crags. The exposed plywood on the reverse side transforms the sculpture to a theater set. Translated as "only he who knows longing" from a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 'Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt' champions the sublime and the mundane as one.
Ragnar Kjartansson (b. 1976) is an Icelandic artist whose work in video installations, performances, drawings, and paintings play on the history of film, music, visual culture, and literature. His pieces are connected through humor and pathos, with each deeply influenced by the comedy and tragedy of classical theater. Kjartansson's use of duration and repetition to harness collective emotion is a hallmark of his practice.
Public Opening Reception | Saturday, June 2, 2018
show less
Date/Times:
McEvoy Foundation for the Arts
1150 25th Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
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