Fiona Banner | Full Stop

Fiona Banner

Full Stop

London, UK: Frith Street Gallery, 1997

19 x 5 cm.

Edition of 3 signed copies

Characterized by the artist as “the smallest neon in the world”, this full stop (or period) by Fiona Banner followed the artist’s bookwork, THE NAM [below], in which she recounted the entire plots of five films about the Viet Nam War, to create an “unreadable novel”. 

The neon and lead on plastic mount work comes housed in a wooden box and is accompanied by a signed certificate. 

The potential of the punctuation mark would continue to inspire Banners work in the decades to come (see next post). 

“It is just a little bit of neon glass that I blew. I liked it because it is a breath encapsulated in glass, as a full stop is a breath in some ways. It represented a gap for me in terms of ideas. I wasn’t sure what to do next as an artist. After a while I tried looking at that awkwardness physically, in terms of making something of it, instead of it being an abstract pain. Also there are no neon full stops out there."

- Fiona Banner

Kara Walker | (Untitled] Pitcher

Kara Walker

(Untitled] Pitcher

New York City, USA: Artware Editions, 2014

8.25 x 7.6 x 5.75"

Edition of 1000 numbered copies

A white porcelain pitcher by Kara Walker featuring two of her signature black silhouettes. The artist's signature is stamped on the bottom and each pitcher is individually numbered. A signed and numbered certificate of authenticity issued by the manufacturer Bernardaud (Limoges, France) accompanies each example.

Ian Hamilton Finlay

Ian Hamilton Finlay died on this day twenty years ago, at the age of eighty. 

Daniel Spoerri

Daniel Spoerri was born on this day in 1930. 

Rachel Whiteread | Pallet

Rachel Whiteread

Pallet 

Margate, UK: Counter Editions, 2016

46 x 33 x 3 cm (18 x 13 x 1 inches)

Edition of 40 signed and numbered copies

A patinated bronze work available from the publisher, here, for $14,000.

International Sackville Cube Day Book Launch

The small town of Sackville has little in the way of a skyline - the only thing that can be seen from a distance is a fourteen storey, windowless building affectionately known as The Cube. The structure serves as a silo for frozen cranberries and blueberries. A few years ago we* hosted a screening projected onto the building (which is taller than any drive-in cinema in North America) and I was hopeful that I would gain access to the space in the process, to poke around a little. I learned that there was no access to the building, to anyone. It’s a fully automated refrigerator that requires no staff. 

To launch his newest graphic novel Jon Claytor invited local artists, poets, musicians to present work on the subject of the cube, or cubes in general. Billed as a ‘variety show’ the evening will include readings, a slide-show, musical performances and more. Paintings, drawings, sculptures and photographs are presented in the multi-room space. I contributed an ephemeral envelope take-away piece (see next post).

Claytor’s Nowhere is a zombie story set in a nondescript town where a giant cube appears on the edge of town. Recently relocated twelve year old Joel and his friend Charlie witness the slow disappearance of the citizens in the area, and are forced to reckon with their new reality. 

The launch event takes place at Living Things (a recent co-operative store where artists sell ceramics, clothing, cards, calendars, patches, prints, vinyl records and other creations) tomorrow at 7pm. 25 Lorne Street. 

*Struts Gallery (which were were the directors of, at the time), the Owens Art Gallery, and Sappyfest presented a selection of video works by artists, followed by a projected performance by Lido Pimienta. See below. 

Voorwerk 1

Fiona Rae, Doriana Chiarini, Aernout Mik, Kay Rosen

Voorwerk 1

Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Witte de With, 1990

21 x 31 cm., boxed

Edition of 500

In October of 1990, Witte de With in Rotterdam held the first of their Voorwerk series, which featured works by Doriana Chiarini, Aernout Mik, Fiona Rae, and American artist Kay Rosen, curated by Gosse Oosterhof.

Voorwerk translates to "preliminary work" and the series featured then-younger and emerging artists, with the intention to provide "the first substantial presentation of works by relatively unknown artists". Their track record of picking those who would go on to greater success, especially in this first year, is pretty incredible. The shows were annual and presented without thematics or common denominators.

Italian artist Doriana Chiarini presented elegant objects that combined design and art. Dutch artist Aernout Mik showed his Dummies series, which consists of cushions from photographic linen, loosely modelled after the human body, that are photographically printed with children’s portraits. The two painters couldn't have been more different - Fiona Rae exhibited abstract works and Kay Rosen presented textual paintings rich with visual jokes, taken from everyday conversation, pulp novels and telephone directories.

The "catalogue" for the exhibition featured a compartmentalized cardboard box containing works by all four artists: an original painting by Fiona Rae (each unique), five cards by Kay Rosen, a fold out paper by Chiarini and five photocards by Mik.

Art Metropole stocked at least two of the three boxes that were released, in the first year that I worked there. I can't remember the exact price, but I seem recall them being between thirty and fifty dollars. All of the titles have increased in value considerably since that time, with the first one (owing much to the inclusion of the unique Rae painting) becoming particularly costly. Prices have subsequently settled and the work can now be found again for under a hundred dollars.