Curated by Carole Perry
Press Preview and Members’ Opening Reception:
Thursday, March 19, 2020, 6:30-8:30 PM
Exhibition on view March 20 - June 14, 2020
Press Preview and Members’ Opening Reception:
Thursday, March 19, 2020, 6:30-8:30 PM
Exhibition on view March 20 - June 14, 2020
It is certain that the inanimate objects by which you are surrounded have a direct action on the brain.
- Jules Verne
The Edward Hopper House Museum and Study Center is pleased to announce its forthcoming exhibition, Object Lessons, featuring works by six artists—Shervone Neckles, Vik Muniz, Tony Oursler, Jean Shin, and Hank Willis Thomas & Kambui Olujimi. Curated by Carole Perry, the exhibition explores the connection between memorable childhood objects and mature artistic expression.
As the birthplace and childhood home of Edward Hopper (1882-1967), the museum building and surrounding area offer a means by which visitors can directly connect to and understand what was important to artist as a child and as he developed into an artist. Much of that can be discerned through the objects that young Edward Hopper found or created--including model boats he built and a message in a bottle that he found in the river—and which will be displayed together with later work focusing on nautical themes. These items and those of the other artists in this show provide clues as to the artistic identities they would later carve out. The exhibition also presents material from Edward Hopper’s youth, suggesting ways in which such objects forecast themes in his art. The contemporary artists will display items from childhood that have emotional resonance for them alongside their mature work. Their processes vary widely, but all respond to the symbolic content of objects in intriguing ways.
Vik Muniz (b. São Paulo, Brazil, 1961) is known for using photography to transform everyday materials (such as sugar, thread, chocolate, and garbage) into facsimiles of pop culture references or iconic paintings. For Object Lessons, Muniz will display a work from his Mnemonic Vehicles series, in which he has recreated large-scale replicas of toy cars he played with as a child. Together with the recreated Ferrari, he will include the actual Matchbox cars that inspired the series. Muniz believes that toys “act as a sort of medium, because they stand between the practice of doing something and the thing itself… For every kid, playing is both a way of preparing for adult life and also preparing for the things that you want to have when you become an adult.”
Shervone Neckles (b. New York, 1979) is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and community worker. As a first generation American born to Grenadian parents, she draws inspiration from the duality and transitional nature of her identity. For this show, she will include work from her Provenance series, which features a liminal figure wearing a house structure worn as a mask/headdress. She will display the Provenance pictures together with a beaded doorway curtain similar to those in the family home in Grenada that were later replicated in her New York apartment. “I activate everyday objects that reference my lived girlhood to womanhood experiences as a way to Illuminate the interior and exterior spaces of black womanhood.”
Tony Oursler (b. New York, 1957) is a pioneering figure in new media, best known for his innovative integration of video, sculpture, and performance. Recent work--especially his Imponderable project--delves into many belief systems that he explores, such as magic and ghosts. For this project he will show a new video projection relating to the famous story of a haunted house in Nyack, just down the road from the Edward Hopper House. He will also display a shard of Native American pottery that he found on his property as a child, which helped to spark his lifelong fascination with mythic origins and mysterious phenomena.
Jean Shin (b. Seoul, South Korea, 1971) is best known for installations consisting of hundreds of repetitive or seemingly identical objects arranged to create a new context. She will be displaying a traditional Korean sock (beoseon) that she wore on special occasions growing up, hidden under elaborately decorated dresses. Shin immigrated to American when she was six and she sees this tradition as a way of reconnecting with her Korean culture. Alongside the beoseon , she will display her sculpture, Clothesline, made of multiple discarded men’s shirts that suggest the absence of the body, with only traces of the figure remaining. They are “lined up in multitude and taking up space, yet they are barely visible, emptied of their identities beyond the workplace.”
Hank Willis Thomas (b. New Jersey, 1976) is a conceptual artist working primarily with themes related to perspective, identity, commodity, media, and popular culture. Kambui Olujimi’s (b. Brooklyn, NY, 1976) work challenges established modes of thinking that commonly function as "inevitabilities." This pursuit takes shape through interdisciplinary bodies of work spanning sculpture, installation, photography, writing, video and performance. For the show, Thomas and Olujimi recontextualize their boyhood playthings, using his old G.I. Joe figures as characters in the film, Winter in America. The film, which reenacts the robbing and murder of Thomas’s cousin, is a statement about cultural norms that encourage young boys to conceive violent scenarios with their toys. Thomas states, “From the elements of pop culture to the way I critique American identity and values in my work, playing with G.I. Joes was my training ground.”
Cultural traditions, societal expectations, and youthful curiosity all come into play in shaping the artistic visions of these artists, and by including such a diverse group, Object Lessons allows visitors to explore how the nascent sensibilities of childhood shape development, resulting in an unpredictable spectrum of unique artistic identities.
- Jules Verne
The Edward Hopper House Museum and Study Center is pleased to announce its forthcoming exhibition, Object Lessons, featuring works by six artists—Shervone Neckles, Vik Muniz, Tony Oursler, Jean Shin, and Hank Willis Thomas & Kambui Olujimi. Curated by Carole Perry, the exhibition explores the connection between memorable childhood objects and mature artistic expression.
As the birthplace and childhood home of Edward Hopper (1882-1967), the museum building and surrounding area offer a means by which visitors can directly connect to and understand what was important to artist as a child and as he developed into an artist. Much of that can be discerned through the objects that young Edward Hopper found or created--including model boats he built and a message in a bottle that he found in the river—and which will be displayed together with later work focusing on nautical themes. These items and those of the other artists in this show provide clues as to the artistic identities they would later carve out. The exhibition also presents material from Edward Hopper’s youth, suggesting ways in which such objects forecast themes in his art. The contemporary artists will display items from childhood that have emotional resonance for them alongside their mature work. Their processes vary widely, but all respond to the symbolic content of objects in intriguing ways.
Vik Muniz (b. São Paulo, Brazil, 1961) is known for using photography to transform everyday materials (such as sugar, thread, chocolate, and garbage) into facsimiles of pop culture references or iconic paintings. For Object Lessons, Muniz will display a work from his Mnemonic Vehicles series, in which he has recreated large-scale replicas of toy cars he played with as a child. Together with the recreated Ferrari, he will include the actual Matchbox cars that inspired the series. Muniz believes that toys “act as a sort of medium, because they stand between the practice of doing something and the thing itself… For every kid, playing is both a way of preparing for adult life and also preparing for the things that you want to have when you become an adult.”
Shervone Neckles (b. New York, 1979) is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and community worker. As a first generation American born to Grenadian parents, she draws inspiration from the duality and transitional nature of her identity. For this show, she will include work from her Provenance series, which features a liminal figure wearing a house structure worn as a mask/headdress. She will display the Provenance pictures together with a beaded doorway curtain similar to those in the family home in Grenada that were later replicated in her New York apartment. “I activate everyday objects that reference my lived girlhood to womanhood experiences as a way to Illuminate the interior and exterior spaces of black womanhood.”
Tony Oursler (b. New York, 1957) is a pioneering figure in new media, best known for his innovative integration of video, sculpture, and performance. Recent work--especially his Imponderable project--delves into many belief systems that he explores, such as magic and ghosts. For this project he will show a new video projection relating to the famous story of a haunted house in Nyack, just down the road from the Edward Hopper House. He will also display a shard of Native American pottery that he found on his property as a child, which helped to spark his lifelong fascination with mythic origins and mysterious phenomena.
Jean Shin (b. Seoul, South Korea, 1971) is best known for installations consisting of hundreds of repetitive or seemingly identical objects arranged to create a new context. She will be displaying a traditional Korean sock (beoseon) that she wore on special occasions growing up, hidden under elaborately decorated dresses. Shin immigrated to American when she was six and she sees this tradition as a way of reconnecting with her Korean culture. Alongside the beoseon , she will display her sculpture, Clothesline, made of multiple discarded men’s shirts that suggest the absence of the body, with only traces of the figure remaining. They are “lined up in multitude and taking up space, yet they are barely visible, emptied of their identities beyond the workplace.”
Hank Willis Thomas (b. New Jersey, 1976) is a conceptual artist working primarily with themes related to perspective, identity, commodity, media, and popular culture. Kambui Olujimi’s (b. Brooklyn, NY, 1976) work challenges established modes of thinking that commonly function as "inevitabilities." This pursuit takes shape through interdisciplinary bodies of work spanning sculpture, installation, photography, writing, video and performance. For the show, Thomas and Olujimi recontextualize their boyhood playthings, using his old G.I. Joe figures as characters in the film, Winter in America. The film, which reenacts the robbing and murder of Thomas’s cousin, is a statement about cultural norms that encourage young boys to conceive violent scenarios with their toys. Thomas states, “From the elements of pop culture to the way I critique American identity and values in my work, playing with G.I. Joes was my training ground.”
Cultural traditions, societal expectations, and youthful curiosity all come into play in shaping the artistic visions of these artists, and by including such a diverse group, Object Lessons allows visitors to explore how the nascent sensibilities of childhood shape development, resulting in an unpredictable spectrum of unique artistic identities.
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Support for this exhibition has been generously provided by Nyack Wine Cellar, Mary Ekmalian, New York State Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee, a devoted advocate and supporter of the Arts.
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Images
For HIGHER-RES images, please contact press@hopperhouse.org
Images may be downloaded, reproduced, and published by members of the press for the sole purpose of creating or supporting timely news stories related to the Edward Hopper House and its exhibitions, programs, and events. Use of the press images for any other purpose requires the additional prior permission of the Edward Hopper House and may also require the additional prior permission of third-party rights holders. Obtaining these permissions is the sole responsibility of the press user. Press images may not be downloaded, reproduced, or published by commercial stock houses or archives under any circumstances. Press images must be reproduced in their entirety, and must include the identifying information provided by the Edward Hopper House, collection information, credit lines, and copyright. Images may not be cropped, detailed, overprinted, or altered without prior approval.
Wooden Boat with Three Smokestacks, handmade by Edward Hopper, 7 3/4 x 16 x 3 1/2 in., Sanborn Hopper Family Archive
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Shervone Neckles, Provenance 4, 2017 (from Provenance series), Polyester print with embroidered thread surface and glass beads, 15 x11 in., Courtesy of the Artist
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Shervone Neckles, you your best thing: woman, other & friend, 2019 (from Provenance series), Velour Paper, embroidered thread surface, upholstery fabric and fabric trim, 27 ½ x 37 ½ in., Courtesy of the Artist
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Jean Shin, Clothesline 2, 2016, Fabric (white oxford shirts), 48 x 132 in., Courtesy of the Artist
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Artist Unknown, Beoseon, ca. 1971, Korean Sock, 10 x 8 in., Courtesy of Jean Shin
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