New Works 09.2: Anne Collier, Charlie Morris, Silke Otto-Knapp

Anne Collier - New York, NY New York-based artist Anne Collier photographs existing objects - including movie publicity stills, record sleeves, posters, magazines, and self help manuals - in staged tableaux that she considers to be a form of photographic still-life. Collier's forsensic, even detached approach to making images is seemingly at odds with the often highly emotive and melancholic subjects shes depicts. Referencing both popular culture and the growth in pop-pscychology since the 1970s Collier is drawn to the previous lives that these typically second-hand artifacts display through the traces of their former use. Collier's exploration of the act of looking and the mechanics of the photographic process has resultered in a highly conceptual yet strangely visceral body of work that considers the thresholds between the personal and universal.

Charlie Morris - San Antonio, TX Local artist Charlie Morris' multi-media approach combines flat color schemes with atypical compositional arrangements, resulting in an ongoing series of work that explores technology and mass media. His installations are marked by reductionism-through the delineation of common objects (such as radios, communication devices, and architecture) Morris allows the viewer to contemplate the impact of these objects on our daily lives. According to the artist, the resulting "abstracted distance" between the sculpture and the viewer engenders an environment in which one is allowed to address myriad issues, including the creation and delivery of media information and the development of military tactics.

Silke Otto-Knapp - London, England German-born Silke Otto-Knapp's paintings and drawings explore the interplay of rural and urban aesthetics while illuminating her characters' quotidian experience. Inspired by theater sets and botanical gardens, these dreamlike compositions are populated by ghostly figures, shadows, and open-aired amphitheaters. Otto-Knapp's use of the stage, mirrors and multiple figures within the pictorial space is enhanced by her combination of watercolor on canvas and textured washes, creating an apt setting for vaguely supernatural occurrences. The apparent pastoral vistas and burlesque interiors are coupled with a palette reminiscent of distressed photographs enlivened by silver and gold pigments, imbuing Otto-Knapp's work with an unpredictability that is equally disturbing and compelling.

New Works: 09.2
Kurator: Kitty Scott

Künstler: Anne Collier, Charlie Morris, Silke Otto-Knapp