2017
November 12, 2017–April 1, 2018
The Brant Foundation Art Study Center presented an exhibition by Jason Rhoades (1965-2006) featuring a selection of works from The Brant Collection and other significant works from throughout his career. By bringing together iconic installations and rarely seen sculptures, the exhibition offered an insightful look at Rhoades's powerful and persuasive oeuvre. The artist is known for his highly original, large-scale sculptural installations, of which the significant examples My Brother/Brancuzi (1995), The Grand Machine / THEAREOLA (2002), and Untitled (from the body of work: My Madinah: In pursuit of my ermitage…) (2004) will feature in this exhibition. A selection of videos pertaining to the works on view will also be presented.
Until his untimely death in 2006 at age 41, Rhoades carried out a continuous assault on aesthetic conventions and the rules governing the art world, wryly subverting those conditions by activating them within his practice. He conceived his works as part of an ongoing project in which the installations were continuously altered and supplemented. Underpinned by a unique combination of humor and conceptual rigor, his practice redefined and expanded the space in which artworks are both made and exhibited. With a firm belief in the ultimate freedom of expression for artists, Rhoades circumvented notions of taste and political correctness in a candid pursuit of the creative impulse itself.
In a review of the exhibition in Forbes, Clayton Press writes, "Rhoades was an adventurer, who might be called a 4-H Club romantic. The 4-H slogan is 'Learn by Doing.' Rhoades did . . . The complexity of Rhoades's installations is exceptional, often consisting of seemingly countless components. Large installations are filled with smaller ones. Smaller ones are composed of groups and units . . . For The Brant Foundation Art Study Center to undertake this exhibition demonstrates its serious commitment to scholarship."
Related Event:
Wednesday, February 14, 5–7 PM Open House at The Brant Foundation