Tuesday, February 9, 2010

The Room of Sublime Wallpaper (II)




The Room of Sublime Wallpaper (II)
APF LAB
15 Wooster Street
Closes Saturday, Feb 20, 2010
Opening hours: Sat-Sun, 12-6pm

Ellen Harvey is a British born artist who currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She has exhibited extensively in the U.S and internationally and was most recently included in the 2008 Whitney Biennial.

Previously seen at the NADA Art Fair with Stephan Stoyanov's Gallery, The Room of Sublime Wallpaper (II) is one of Ellen's latest installations and can be viewed at APF LAB till February 20th, 2010.

Looking into the room, the viewer sees a room wallpapered in newspaper containing a salon-style hanging of glowing landscape paintings that seem to move as the viewer approaches them. It is only upon entering the room that it becomes apparent that the “paintings” are in fact angled mirrors reflecting the hidden painted walls of the room and the illusion is shattered by the intrusion of the viewer’s reflection. The most luxurious (hand-painted) and the poorest (newspaper) forms of wallpaper are juxtaposed much as the escapist fantasy of art’s reach for the sublime is disrupted by the alternately dire and ridiculous “news” of our time.

For more information about the artist and her body of work, click here

No comments: