MERLIN CARPENTER

EXHIBITION PROGRAM 2000

"As a Painter I Call Myself the Estate of"
Main Hall  
March 30 – May 21, 2000
 
 

Merlin Carpenter, Exhibition View, Secession, 2000
 
 
For the exhibition "As a Painter I Call Myself the Estate of" the Secession's main room is divided up with high temporary walls, creating one central space surrounded by a wide corridor. The pictures of the show are divided into several groups depending on when they were made. But they are meant to give more than a chronological or biographical insight into Carpenter's artistic development - it's rather the other way round: The images are detecting and reflecting how the ways of making and consuming art has changed within the last decade. With ever present traces of humour, narrative concepts, new realism and the relation between art and commodities become topics - especially after a speedboat is exhibited, too. Thus the setting becomes that of a showroom - not anything particularly unusual for the Secession, which can look back on a long history as a gallery for the Künstlervereinigung (Association of Artists). It is kept intentionally unclear, however, whether the images are now meant to serve as a backdrop for the select luxury item or whether just the opposite holds true: that the expensive object is intended to lend added glamour to the paintings. Carpenter thereby repeats, through the medium of the installation, a discussion that may be read in his images as well.
 


Merlin Carpenter, Ausstellungsansicht, Secession, 2000


It is scarcely a coincidence that Carpenter should choose painting as the medium for his work on this topic: as the queen of the arts, painting in the 20th century was met with lasting scepticism, scepticism precisely toward its decorative qualities and its potential for financial exploitation. This criticism, however, was often nourished by the prospect of art forms which were capable of eluding both - an illusion under which Carpenter never labors for a moment.
 


Merlin Carpenter, Ausstellungsansicht, Secession, 2000


His interest is in the de-mystification of painting; on a formal level he insists that it not be mysterious, but rather fully legible and that this formal level nonetheless be significant to the content: it decides whether or not anything at all is on the painting. One perspective of Carpenter's art lies, finally, in this de-mystification: instead of exploring and building-up meta-levels he suggests the continuation of the experiment of painting and waiting patiently for the results.



Merlin Carpenter, Ausstellungsansicht, Secession, 2000


PUBLICATION

MERLIN CARPENTER 48 pages, 21 colored illustrations, 5 b/w photos authors: Merlin Carpenter, Anthony Davis, Diedrich Diederichsen Secession, 2000, ISBN 3-901926-21-6 sold out ___________________

 
 

Merlin Carpenter, Ausstellungsansicht, Secession, 2000


Merlin Carpenter was born in Pembury in 1967. He lives and works in London. Exhibitions (selected): Girlfriend (2000, Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig); Survivors (1999, Galerie Christian Nagel, Köln); Chant No 1 (1998, Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin); Doppelganger (1998, The Top Room, London); Voluntary Effort (1995, Tom Solomon's Garage, Los Angeles); Les Jeunes (1993, Galerie Bruno Brunnet, Berlin)
 
  

Merlin Carpenter, Ausstellungsansicht, Secession, 2000

GREGOR SCHNEIDER

EXHIBITION PROGRAM 2000

 
 
 
For further information and photographic material please contact:
 
Urte Schmitt-Ulms
Secession, Association of Visual Artists Vienna Secession
Friedrichstraße 12, 1010 Vienna
Tel: +43-1-5875307-21, Fax: +43-1-5875307-34
presse@secession.at