Installation view, Andra Ursuţa: Joy Revision, David Zwirner, London, 2022
Installation view, Andra Ursuţa: Joy Revision, David Zwirner, London, 2022
Andra Ursuţa: Joy Revision
David Zwirner is pleased to announce Joy Revision, an exhibition of work by Andra Ursuţa (b. 1979). This will be the Romanian-born, New York–based artist’s second solo presentation with the gallery. The exhibition will debut new photograms and lead-crystal sculptures that stem from a premodern conception of art as an essential tool to deal with mortality, loss, and grief.
Image: Installation view, Andra Ursuţa: Joy Revision, David Zwirner, London, 2022
Location
Dates
September 22—October 29, 2022
Opening Reception
Thursday, September 22, 6-8pm
Gallery Hours
Tues—Sat 10am–6pm
Artist
Andra Ursuţa
Aural Prolapse, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
63 1/4 x 52 inches (160.7 x 132.1 cm)
Framed: 66 3/8 x 55 1/4 inches (168.6 x 140.3 cm)
Framed: 66 3/8 x 55 1/4 inches (168.6 x 140.3 cm)
“[The Photograms] come after a few years in which, from Hilma af Klint to Emma Kunz to Agnes Pelton, we have seen a new history of modernism and a new history of abstraction that has finally recognized the ways in which philosophical thinking or mystical thinking actually had an impact on abstraction, and I think Andra is sort of latching on to that history.”
—Massimiliano Gioni, Artistic Director, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, 2021
Historical reference for the artist’s new series of photograms: Francis Bacon, Figure with Meat, 1954. © 2016 Estate of Francis Bacon/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
Historical reference for the artist’s new series of photograms: Francis Bacon, Figure with Meat, 1954. © 2016 Estate of Francis Bacon/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
This exhibition debuts new photograms and lead crystal sculptures that stem from a premodern conception of art as an essential tool to deal with mortality, loss, and grief. In London, the artist connects the urgency of existential questions probed by art with an art-historical investigation of image-making.
Andra Ursuţa
Doom Fingering, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
63 1/4 x 52 inches (160.7 x 132.1 cm)
Framed: 66 1/2 x 55 3/8 inches (168.9 x 140.7 cm)
Framed: 66 1/2 x 55 3/8 inches (168.9 x 140.7 cm)
Installation view, Andra Ursuţa: Joy Revision, David Zwirner, London, 2022
Installation view, Andra Ursuţa: Joy Revision, David Zwirner, London, 2022
Andra Ursuţa
Habit Hole, 2022
Lead crystal
40 x 17 x 25 inches (101.6 x 43.2 x 63.5 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Eames Chair 1, 2021
Photoreactive dye on velvet
71 1/8 x 51 inches (180.7 x 129.5 cm)
Framed: 74 1/4 x 54 1/4 inches (188.6 x 137.8 cm)
Framed: 74 1/4 x 54 1/4 inches (188.6 x 137.8 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Nocturnal Omission 2, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
90 1/4 x 50 1/8 inches (229.2 x 127.3 cm)
Framed: 93 3/8 x 53 3/8 inches (237.2 x 135.6 cm)
Framed: 93 3/8 x 53 3/8 inches (237.2 x 135.6 cm)
Andra Ursuţa, Eames Chair 1, 2021 (detail)
Andra Ursuţa, Eames Chair 1, 2021 (detail)
Andra Ursuţa, Nocturnal Omission 2, 2021-2022 (detail)
Andra Ursuţa, Nocturnal Omission 2, 2021-2022 (detail)
Andra Ursuţa
Grand Obélisque, 2022
Lead crystal
30 1/2 x 19 x 14 inches (77.5 x 48.3 x 35.6 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Grande Odalisque, 2022
Lead crystal
25 x 21 x 18 inches (63.5 x 53.3 x 45.7 cm)
Installation view, Andra Ursuţa: Joy Revision, David Zwirner, London, 2022
Installation view, Andra Ursuţa: Joy Revision, David Zwirner, London, 2022
Andra Ursuţa
Misintegration, 2022
Lead crystal
33 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 27 inches (85.1 x 47 x 68.6 cm)
“To create her figures, Ursuţa combines the traditional technique of lost wax casting with 3D scanning and printing. As such, much like the hybridised bodies characteristic of her greater practice, her sculptures are forged through an intensive process of physical transformation.“
—Madeline Weisburg, Biennale Arte 2022: The Milk of Dreams, 2022
Historical reference for the artist’s Misintegration: Torso of Hercules seated on a rock, 1st-2nd century AD, Roman marble sculpture. Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Historical reference for the artist’s Misintegration: Torso of Hercules seated on a rock, 1st-2nd century AD, Roman marble sculpture. Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Historical reference for the artist’s Habit Hole: TR. W. Martin and Brothers, Jar in the form of a bird, 1888. Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Historical reference for the artist’s Habit Hole: TR. W. Martin and Brothers, Jar in the form of a bird, 1888. Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Historical reference for the artist’s Habit Hole: Installation view, The Galleries for British Decorative Arts and Design, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Photo: Xinhua/Wang Ying
Historical reference for the artist’s Habit Hole: Installation view, The Galleries for British Decorative Arts and Design, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Photo: Xinhua/Wang Ying
Reference for the artist’s Grand Obélisque: Installation view, Andra Ursuţa: Whites, Kunsthalle Basel, 2015–2016
Reference for the artist’s Grand Obélisque: Installation view, Andra Ursuţa: Whites, Kunsthalle Basel, 2015–2016
Reference for the artist’s Grand Obélisque: Installation view, Andra Ursuţa: Whites, Kunsthalle Basel, 2015–2016
Reference for the artist’s Grand Obélisque: Installation view, Andra Ursuţa: Whites, Kunsthalle Basel, 2015–2016
Andra Ursuţa
Floating Head 1, 2021
Photoreactive dye on velvet
54 1/8 x 46 1/4 inches (137.5 x 117.5 cm)
Framed: 57 3/8 x 49 3/8 inches (145.7 x 125.4 cm)
Framed: 57 3/8 x 49 3/8 inches (145.7 x 125.4 cm)
Ursuţa’s photograms, a recurring aspect of her practice, engage with the history and technology of photography since the medium’s inception in the 1820s. As early as the 1850s, ‘ghost photography’ rendered pictures that purported to capture the unseen and conjure uncanny presences, suggesting that the living could commune with the deceased.
Historical reference for the artist’s new series of photograms: Eugène Thiébault, Publicity photography for Henri Robin, 1863
Historical reference for the artist’s new series of photograms: Eugène Thiébault, Publicity photography for Henri Robin, 1863
Historical reference for the artist’s new series of photograms: The ghost of a man's wife appears before him, ca.1870
Historical reference for the artist’s new series of photograms: The ghost of a man's wife appears before him, ca.1870
Historical reference for the artist’s new series of photograms: Mike Kelley, Ectoplasm Photograph 12, 1978/2009. © Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts. All Rights Reserved / VAGA at ARS, NY. Courtesy of Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts
Historical reference for the artist’s new series of photograms: Mike Kelley, Ectoplasm Photograph 12, 1978/2009. © Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts. All Rights Reserved / VAGA at ARS, NY. Courtesy of Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts
“Ursuţa's explorations of technique and material, pain and discomfort don't overshadow her artistic strengths. She can draw, sculpt, and otherwise craft images and objects that are poetic, beautiful, captivating, and hypnotic, as demonstrated by a series of photograms on velvet.”
—Ali Subotnik, Andra Ursuţa: 2000 Words, DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art, 2018
Andra Ursuţa
Nocturnal Omission 3, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
91 1/8 x 50 1/4 inches (231.5 x 127.6 cm)
Framed: 94 1/2 x 53 3/8 inches (240 x 135.6 cm)
Framed: 94 1/2 x 53 3/8 inches (240 x 135.6 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Kartell Eros Chair, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
63 1/4 x 52 1/4 inches (160.7 x 132.7 cm)
Framed: 66 3/8 x 55 3/8 inches (168.6 x 140.7 cm)
Framed: 66 3/8 x 55 3/8 inches (168.6 x 140.7 cm)
Andra Ursuţa, Kartell Eros Chair, 2021-2022 (detail)
Andra Ursuţa, Kartell Eros Chair, 2021-2022 (detail)
Historical reference for the artist’s new series of photograms: Hans Holbein the Younger, The Noblewoman, from The Dance of Death, ca. 1526. Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Historical reference for the artist’s new series of photograms: Hans Holbein the Younger, The Noblewoman, from The Dance of Death, ca. 1526. Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Historical reference for the artist’s new series of photograms: Funerary stele of Mnesarete. A young girl (left) is facing the dead woman. Inscription: ΜΝΗΣΑΡΕΤΗ ΣΩΚΡΑΤΟΣ (“Mnesarete [the daughter] of Socrates”). Attica, ca. 380 BC. Courtesy the Glyptothek, Munich
Historical reference for the artist’s new series of photograms: Funerary stele of Mnesarete. A young girl (left) is facing the dead woman. Inscription: ΜΝΗΣΑΡΕΤΗ ΣΩΚΡΑΤΟΣ (“Mnesarete [the daughter] of Socrates”). Attica, ca. 380 BC. Courtesy the Glyptothek, Munich
The new photograms and sculptures in the exhibition also reference long-standing art-historical traditions more broadly, ranging from ancient death masks and funerary monuments to acheiropoieta (‘icons made without hands’) and domestic genre paintings.
Installation view, Andra Ursuţa: Joy Revision, David Zwirner, London, 2022
Installation view, Andra Ursuţa: Joy Revision, David Zwirner, London, 2022
By acknowledging the past life of the Mayfair townhouse in which the gallery is located, Ursuţa references (Blinky) Palermo’s wall paintings of the late 1960s, which – alongside the work of his contemporaries such as Daniel Buren, Donald Judd, and Sol LeWitt – introduced alternative methods of determining form into the artistic process.
Palermo’s spontaneous paintings of arbitrary forms, generated by the lines or omissions of the built environment, questioned the precedence of foreground versus background, merging reality and fiction. Similarly, in Joy Revision, the townhouse’s architecture becomes a non-neutral framework that is at once a functional environment and a schematic depiction of it: a projective space onto which apparition-like images are placed.
Palermo painting a wall at Galerie Heiner Friedrich, Cologne, April 1971. Courtesy of Palermo Archive, Thordis Moeller, Millerton, N.Y.
Palermo painting a wall at Galerie Heiner Friedrich, Cologne, April 1971. Courtesy of Palermo Archive, Thordis Moeller, Millerton, N.Y.
Andra Ursuţa
Velvet Limbo, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
92 1/4 x 48 1/4 inches (234.3 x 122.6 cm)
Framed: 95 1/2 x 51 1/4 inches (242.6 x 130.2 cm)
Framed: 95 1/2 x 51 1/4 inches (242.6 x 130.2 cm)
“I prefer to look at art from different historical periods. The intricacies of decorative work are really interesting to me.... [Historical artifacts] can capture life that is so real, more so than contemporary art.”
—Andra Ursuţa, Zoo Magazine, 2015
Andra Ursuţa, Velvet Limbo Even Closer-up, 2021-2022 (detail)
Andra Ursuţa, Velvet Limbo Even Closer-up, 2021-2022 (detail)
As in much of her practice, Ursuţa’s photograms combine various techniques with an element of chance, resulting in compositions that seem to be occupied by mysterious presences and auras.
Like Man Ray’s ‘rayographs’, Ursuţa’s works are made without a camera or lens, and she joins methods culled from early photographic practices with those from printmaking.
Historical reference for the artist’s new series of photograms: Man Ray, Rayograph, 1923 (detail). Courtesy The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Historical reference for the artist’s new series of photograms: Man Ray, Rayograph, 1923 (detail). Courtesy The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Andra Ursuţa
Velvet Limbo Close-up, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
60 1/4 x 50 1/8 inches (153 x 127.3 cm)
Framed: 63 3/8 x 53 1/4 inches (161 x 135.3 cm)
Framed: 63 3/8 x 53 1/4 inches (161 x 135.3 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Velvet Limbo Even Closer-up, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
53 1/4 x 46 1/4 inches (135.3 x 117.5 cm)
Framed: 56 1/2 x 49 1/4 inches (143.5 x 125.1 cm)
Framed: 56 1/2 x 49 1/4 inches (143.5 x 125.1 cm)
“The artworks that underwent this process appear to us as impressions, traces, or replicas of what existed for a brief moment in time only, imprinted on some sort of membrane that is both marking a boundary and showing us what remains, once everything else has disappeared.”
—Bice Curiger, Souffler de son Souffle, Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles, 2021
Andra Ursuţa
Body Stocking Stuffer, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
63 1/8 x 52 1/4 inches (160.3 x 132.7 cm)
Framed: 66 3/8 x 55 3/8 inches (168.6 x 140.7 cm)
Framed: 66 3/8 x 55 3/8 inches (168.6 x 140.7 cm)
“Though her subjects are dark or, in some instances, even macabre, Ursuţa’s work never strays into histrionics of gratuitous gore. Nor does it simply traverse bleak landscapes of calamity and defeat. At its heart, her work is a study of vulnerability, resilience, and survival.”
—Natalie Bell, Andra Ursuţa: Alps, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, 2016
Installation view, Andra Ursuţa: Joy Revision, David Zwirner, London, 2022
Installation view, Andra Ursuţa: Joy Revision, David Zwirner, London, 2022
Inquire about works by Andra Ursuţa
Andra Ursuţa
Uneasy Chair, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
63 x 52 inches (160 x 132.1 cm)
Framed: 66 3/8 x 55 1/4 inches (168.6 x 140.3 cm)
Framed: 66 3/8 x 55 1/4 inches (168.6 x 140.3 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Erotic Cobwebs, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
63 1/8 x 52 1/4 inches (160.3 x 132.7 cm)
Framed: 66 3/8 x 55 3/8 inches (168.6 x 140.7 cm)
Framed: 66 3/8 x 55 3/8 inches (168.6 x 140.7 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Body Stocking Stuffer, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
63 1/8 x 52 1/4 inches (160.3 x 132.7 cm)
Framed: 66 3/8 x 55 3/8 inches (168.6 x 140.7 cm)
Framed: 66 3/8 x 55 3/8 inches (168.6 x 140.7 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Aural Prolapse, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
63 1/4 x 52 inches (160.7 x 132.1 cm)
Framed: 66 3/8 x 55 1/4 inches (168.6 x 140.3 cm)
Framed: 66 3/8 x 55 1/4 inches (168.6 x 140.3 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Doom Fingering, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
63 1/4 x 52 inches (160.7 x 132.1 cm)
Framed: 66 1/2 x 55 3/8 inches (168.9 x 140.7 cm)
Framed: 66 1/2 x 55 3/8 inches (168.9 x 140.7 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Kartell Eros Chair, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
63 1/4 x 52 1/4 inches (160.7 x 132.7 cm)
Framed: 66 3/8 x 55 3/8 inches (168.6 x 140.7 cm)
Framed: 66 3/8 x 55 3/8 inches (168.6 x 140.7 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Ruinatrix, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
63 1/8 x 52 1/4 inches (160.3 x 132.7 cm)
Framed: 66 1/2 x 55 3/8 inches (168.9 x 140.7 cm)
Framed: 66 1/2 x 55 3/8 inches (168.9 x 140.7 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Bone Alone 1, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
63 x 52 1/4 inches (160 x 132.7 cm)
Framed: 66 3/8 x 55 1/4 inches (168.6 x 140.3 cm)
Framed: 66 3/8 x 55 1/4 inches (168.6 x 140.3 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Bone Alone 2, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
63 1/8 x 51 7/8 inches (160.3 x 131.8 cm)
Framed: 66 3/8 x 55 1/4 inches (168.6 x 140.3 cm)
Framed: 66 3/8 x 55 1/4 inches (168.6 x 140.3 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Habit Hole, 2022
Lead crystal
40 x 17 x 25 inches (101.6 x 43.2 x 63.5 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Nocturnal Omission, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
92 x 51 inches (233.7 x 129.5 cm)
Framed: 95 3/8 x 54 1/4 (242.4 x 137.9 cm)
Framed: 95 3/8 x 54 1/4 (242.4 x 137.9 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Grand Obélisque, 2022
Lead crystal
30 1/2 x 19 x 14 inches (77.5 x 48.3 x 35.6 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Nocturnal Omission 1, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
90 1/2 x 50 1/4 inches (229.9 x 127.6 cm)
Framed: 93 1/2 x 53 3/8 inches (237.5 x 135.6 cm)
Framed: 93 1/2 x 53 3/8 inches (237.5 x 135.6 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Eames Chair 1, 2021
Photoreactive dye on velvet
71 1/8 x 51 inches (180.7 x 129.5 cm)
Framed: 74 1/4 x 54 1/4 inches (188.6 x 137.8 cm)
Framed: 74 1/4 x 54 1/4 inches (188.6 x 137.8 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Nocturnal Omission 2, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
90 1/4 x 50 1/8 inches (229.2 x 127.3 cm)
Framed: 93 3/8 x 53 3/8 inches (237.2 x 135.6 cm)
Framed: 93 3/8 x 53 3/8 inches (237.2 x 135.6 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Grande Odalisque, 2022
Lead crystal
25 x 21 x 18 inches (63.5 x 53.3 x 45.7 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Eames Chair 2, 2021
Photoreactive dye on velvet
68 x 51 inches (172.7 x 129.5 cm)
Framed: 71 3/8 x 54 1/4 inches (181.3 x 137.8 cm)
Framed: 71 3/8 x 54 1/4 inches (181.3 x 137.8 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Nocturnal Omission 3, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
91 1/8 x 50 1/4 inches (231.5 x 127.6 cm)
Framed: 94 1/2 x 53 3/8 inches (240 x 135.6 cm)
Framed: 94 1/2 x 53 3/8 inches (240 x 135.6 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Velvet Limbo, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
92 1/4 x 48 1/4 inches (234.3 x 122.6 cm)
Framed: 95 1/2 x 51 1/4 inches (242.6 x 130.2 cm)
Framed: 95 1/2 x 51 1/4 inches (242.6 x 130.2 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Velvet Limbo Close-up, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
60 1/4 x 50 1/8 inches (153 x 127.3 cm)
Framed: 63 3/8 x 53 1/4 inches (161 x 135.3 cm)
Framed: 63 3/8 x 53 1/4 inches (161 x 135.3 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Velvet Limbo Even Closer-up, 2021-2022
Photoreactive dye on velvet
53 1/4 x 46 1/4 inches (135.3 x 117.5 cm)
Framed: 56 1/2 x 49 1/4 inches (143.5 x 125.1 cm)
Framed: 56 1/2 x 49 1/4 inches (143.5 x 125.1 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Misintegration, 2022
Lead crystal
33 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 27 inches (85.1 x 47 x 68.6 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Floating Head 3, 2021
Photoreactive dye on velvet
54 1/4 x 46 1/4 inches (137.8 x 117.5 cm)
Framed: 57 1/2 x 49 1/4 inches (146.1 x 125.1 cm)
Framed: 57 1/2 x 49 1/4 inches (146.1 x 125.1 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Floating Head 1, 2021
Photoreactive dye on velvet
54 1/8 x 46 1/4 inches (137.5 x 117.5 cm)
Framed: 57 3/8 x 49 3/8 inches (145.7 x 125.4 cm)
Framed: 57 3/8 x 49 3/8 inches (145.7 x 125.4 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Floating Head 2, 2021
Photoreactive dye on velvet
54 1/4 x 46 1/8 inches (137.8 x 117.2 cm)
Framed: 57 3/8 x 49 1/4 inches (145.7 x 125.1 cm)
Framed: 57 3/8 x 49 1/4 inches (145.7 x 125.1 cm)
Andra Ursuţa
Terminal Fitness, 2021
Photoreactive dye on velvet
80 1/4 x 48 1/8 inches (203.8 x 122.2 cm)
Framed: 83 1/2 x 51 1/4 inches (212.1 x 130.2 cm)
Framed: 83 1/2 x 51 1/4 inches (212.1 x 130.2 cm)