James Rosenquist. The Hole in the Middle of Time and The Hole in the Wallpaper

ACQUAVELLA GALLERIES PRESENTS NEW WORK BY JAMES ROSENQUIST: MOTORIZED PAINTINGS THAT SPIN

The Hole in the Middle of Time and The Hole in the Wallpaper On view February 18 – March 19, 2010

There's so much we know nothing about. Here we are in our natural environment and the mysteries of the universe are all around us. I want to paint these mysteries. James Rosenquist

New York, NY - January 15, 2010 - As prime subjects, Time and Space have preoccupied James Rosenquist since he turned contemporary culture on its head in the early 1960s with paintings that splintered ideas as well as images.

Married to his penetration of cosmic mysteries is a hands-on skill not only with paint on canvas but also with low-tech mechanics. For over four decades he has integrated moving parts as diverse as conveyer belts and laser clocks into his canvases.

These preoccupations and skills combine in two powerfully innovative themes that constitute his exhibition of new work at Acquavella Galleries (February 18-March 19).

The Hole in the Middle of Time is a series of seven works manifesting clock face images, the three largest of which incorporate motorized spinning mirrors.

The Hole in the Wallpaper is a series of fourteen motorized images each reprising a smaller version of an earlier painting by the artist. In the center of every work is a circular mirror. While the paintings spin, the mirrors remain static and reflect the viewer.

The genesis of these works is amplified by the artist in The Hole in the Wallpaper: Conversations with James Rosenquist, an essay by Sarah Celeste Bancroft in the fully illustrated catalogue that accompanies the exhibition. Ms. Bancroft co-curated Rosenquist's landmark retrospective exhibition at The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, The Menil Collection and the Houston Museum of Fine Arts in 2003, traveling to The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and the Wolfsburg Museum in 2004.

James Rosenquist
The Hole in the Middle of Time and The Hole in the Wallpaper