Leaves of Ash, Paris

LEAVES OF ASH
Curated by Michael Nevin & Julia Dippelhofer (THE JOURNAL, NY)
withJoe Bradley, Chris Caccamise, Hanna Sandin, Non Trubkovich, Yui Kugimiya, Eddie Martinez

June 25 - July 25 2009

SUZANNE TARASIEVE PARIS
171 Rue du chevaleret F-75013 Paris
Suzanne Tarasieve

Leaves of Ash
Inspired by the poet Walt Whitman, Michael Nevin and Julia Dippelhofer set out to gather the work of artists that are contributors to the journal, and their friends and neighbors in Brooklyn. The fragmented natural world, portrayed by the six artists that make up this show, is both a reflection and a fabrication, a witty questioning of their surroundings as well as an observant documentation of them. From Yui Kugimiya’s painting-based animations of cats brushing their teeth and speaking on cell phones to Kon Trubkovich’s existentialist oversized vanity plates that question the nature of identity to Joe Bradley’s symbolist canvases, there is a sense of joy in their observing, absorbing and transforming of the everyday into something transcendental and profound, something that speaks of what it is to live in a specific place, at a peculiar time.

About the journal
Since it’s inception in the winter of 1999 by Michael Nevin, then a student at Montserrat College of Art, the journal has been a vehicle for Michael’s creative surroundings. Taking form as a diary-influenced quarterly magazine, with a focus on contemporary art, the journal has evolved to collaborate with today’s most important established and emerging artists. Publishing exclusive original projects, artworks made specifically for the pages of the magazine, and artist monographs that accompany each entry, the journal has become internationally recognized for its independent and original voice. Now in its 10th year, the journal has collaborated with gallerists and curators such as Anton Kern, Gavin Brown, Clarissa Dalrymple, and Kathy Grayson, and artists such as Dash Snow, Richard Prince, Juergen Teller, Peter Coffin and Jonathan Meese.

The Journal Gallery, established in 2004 in New York’s East Village, with its current location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is the sister project of the journal, bringing content from the publications page’s to the walls and floor of the gallery. Artists David Shrigley, Jack Pierson, Gil Pellaton, Dash Snow, Tim Barber, Agathe Snow, Aurel Schmidt, Ken Kagami, Joe Bradley, Jonathan Meese and Miranda July have exhibited work at The Journal Gallery, while musicians such as Thurston Moore and Mark Borthwick, and bands such as Chairlift, The Sads, and TV Baby have given memorable performances there. Both the journal and The Journal Gallery are a collaborative effort by Michael Nevin and Julia Dippelhofer.