Dennis Oppenheim: Tactics

Slought Foundation, a non-profit organization rethinking contemporary art, presents “Tactics: Early Video Works by Dennis Oppenheim, 1970-1974,” from April 1-June 27, 2006. This exhibition has been curated by Osvaldo Romberg, Senior Curator at Slought Foundation. The artist will be present for the public reception on Saturday, April 1st, 2006 from 6:30-8:30pm.

Dennis Oppenheim has received international attention for a body of conceptual artwork that includes performance, sculpture, and photographs. In the early 1970s, Oppenheim was in the vangard of artists using film and video as a means to investigate themes relating to Body Art, Conceptual Art, and performance. In a series of works produced between 1970 and 1974, Oppenheim used his own body as a site to challenge the self: he explored the boundaries of personal risk, transformation, and communication through ritualistic performance actions and interactions. Slought Foundation is pleased to present a selection of rarely-seen and recently re-mastered historical works in video format by Oppenheim from the early 1970s.

Dennis Oppenheim was born in 1938 in Electric City, Washington. He received his B.F.A. from the School of Arts and Crafts, and an M.F.A. from Stanford University. He has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Oppenheim has exhibited his works internationally in galleries and museums including the Tate Gallery, London; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Whitney Museum of American Art and The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Galerie Pro Arte, Germany; and the Joseph Helman Gallery, New York. He has been commissioned by many venues including Ballerup Kommune, Copenhagen; Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and Olympic Park, South Korea. Oppenheim lives in New York.

The exhibition will include the following video works:

Program One: Aspen Projects (1970, 30 min, b&w and color, silent) Material Interchange 1970, 2:44 min, b&w, silent Identity Transfer 1970, 1 min, b&w, silent Rocked Hand 1970, 3:34 min, color, silent Compression - Fern #1 1970, 5:46 min, color, silent Pressure Piece #1 1970, 1:40 min, color, silent Glassed Hand 1970, 2:56 min, color, silent Compression - Poison Oak 1970, 2:46 min, color, silent Compression - Fern #2 1970, 5:22 min, color, silent Leafed Hand 1970, 3:44 min, color, silent

Program Two (1970, 14:56 min, b&w and color, silent) Extended Armour 1970, 2:08 min, b&w, silent Gingerbread Man 1970, 1:42 min, b&w, silent Nail Sharpening 1970, 2:57 min, b&w, silent Toward Becoming a Devil 1970, 2:20 min, b&w, silent Rocked Stomach 1970, 2:48 min, color, silent Fusion: Tooth and Nail 1970, 2:58 min, color, silent

Program Three (1972-74, 24:30 min, b&w and color, sound) Disappear 1972, 5:57 min, sound, b&w Brush 1973, 4:56 min, color, sound I'm Failing 1972-73, 1:48 min, color, sound My Father's Socks 1972, 5:50 min, b&w, sound Mittens 1974, 4:21 min, b&w, sound

Program Four (1971-72, 44:50 min, b&w, silent) Vibration #1 1971, 13:30 min, b&w, silent Vibration #2 1972, 11:24 min, b&w, silent 2 Stage Transfer Drawing (Advancing to a Future State) 1971, 7:42 min, b&w, silent 2 Stage Transfer Drawing (Retreating to a Past State) 1971, 12:04 min, b&w, silent

Program Five (1970-71, 37:45 min, b&w and color, silent) Air Pressure (hand) 1971, 5:25 min, color, silent Lead Sink for Sebastian 1970, 4:42 min, color, silent Nail Sharpening 1970, 6:02 min, color, silent Gingerbread Man 1970-71, 8:45 min, b&w, silent Fusion: Tooth and Nail 1970, 12:03 min, color, silent

Program Six (1971-72, 27:18 min, b&w and color, silent) Forming Sounds 1971, 7:14 min, b&w and color, silent

Pressetext

Tactics: Early Video Works by Dennis Oppenheim, 1970-1974
Featuring Dennis Oppenheim
Kurator: Osvaldo Romberg