Janine Antoni, Lick and Lather, 1993-94, Soap and Chocolate
Vito Acconci, Trademarks, 1970, Black and white photographs of performance, 70 x 42 inches
Patty Chang, Eels, 2001Video on plasma screen
Felix Golzales-Torres, Untitled (L.A.), 1991, candy
Bill Viola, Il Vapore, 1976, Video Installation
Gabriel Orozco, My Hand Is My Heart, 1994, C-prints
Ene-Liis Semper, Oasis, 1999, video
Fred Tomaselli, 13,000, 1996, mixed media on wood
Douglas Gordon, 2004, C-print, 12 3/4 x 15 3/4 inches
Rodney Graham, Schoolyard Tree, Vancouver, 2002, color photograph, edition of 7, 50 3/4 x 63 1/4 inches
Mike Kelley, His Master's Voice, 1983,
Head Cheese (small slices)Pigmented cast epoxy resins Slice approx. size: 15"H x 18 1/4"W x 1 3/8"D
Ugo Rondinone, No. 337-ACHTUNDZWANZIGSTERMAIZWEITAUSENDUNDVIER, 2004, Acrylic on canvas, 86 1/2 inches (diameter)
Christian Marclay, 210 West 14th Street, 1992, door, audio loop, 86 x 40 inches
Nobuyoshi Araki, from the series Private Diary, 1996, color photograph, 20 x 24 inches
Tom Friedman, Artifact, 2004, paper, 48 x 24 x 19 inches
Sophie Calle, fron the series - The Blind, 1986. framed photographs and text, 45 x 50 inches
James Cohan Gallery is pleased to present a group exhibition, Realm of the Senses. The works on view either directly or obliquely address one of the five senses: touch, taste, sight, sound, and smell. This exhibition explores the relationship between the specific senses and how they function as an expressive vehicle. Poetic potential abounds.
Bill Viola's first video and sound installation Il Vapore, 1975, creates a monastic environment and ruminates on the act of purification. Viola first appears on a monitor sitting cross-legged in front of a pot of boiling eucalyptus leaves. As Viola drinks the water, dribbling it back into the pot, the viewer is simultaneously recorded and becomes a part of the ritualistic space. The same pot, placed on a tatami mat in the room opposite the monitor, is also filled with water and fresh eucalyptus that emanates a therapeutic aroma.
Ugo Rondinonei's painting, a hallucinatory tondo, vibrates with optimal color combinations. Rondinonei's hypnotic bulls-eye target intentionally employs colors that evoke an emotional, trance-like state. The titles of his paintings serve as a diary of the date and month in which they were made, inducing a meditation in color and mood played out against the passage of time and its record of creation.
The auditory and tactile are directly addressed in Sean Duffy's, sound piece, The Touch, 2004. Duffy has constructed a turntable with three needles capable of playing several segments of the record simultaneously. A cacophony of sound assaults the viewer. In turn, Duffy uses nine different album covers all containing the word touch in their titles.
In Fred Tomaselli's painting 13,000, 1996, thousands of aspirins are intricately stacked in vertical rows and embedded beneath clear resin. Pills induce altered states, which Tomaselli has stated is symbolic of "travel". Tomaselli's use of pills here is a reflection of both art and consciousness.
Tomaselli creates an optical dance in the intentional irregularity of the columns, vibrating against a deep blue background. Reminiscent of DNA sequences or skeletal vertebrae, he utilizes familiar materials to create a universal, medicinal code.
The primal fascination with our own capacity to experience and respond to the world is ever-present. The five senses have been an equally compelling source of inspiration for artists throughout history, resulting in a myriad of literal and conceptual responses.
