“Visibility”, for the purposes of this particular exhibition on view at Campoli Presti, concerns not just visual data but also the recognition of that information as well. This awareness includes both an object of attention and the background against which it appears. Objects that blend into the background, however, are sometimes said to be “invisible.” Artworks all inevitably represent objects in some way. Accordingly, the primary purpose of an artwork, even the non-objective artwork, is to establish a subject/object relationship. In this way, even what are ordinarily called “formal concerns” are freighted with ideological and political values.
The artists featured here not only point to objects, but also to the frameworks – or apparatuses – through which we recognize them. Taken together, their various works suggest a self-reflexive inextricability between seer, seen and the medium through which something may become visible. Moreover, they situate this relationship within a social field, by which it qualifies as a practice.
Curated by John Miller.
Featuring the works of: Lutz Bacher, Liz Deschenes, Dan Graham, Jon Kessler, Josiah McElheny, R.H. Quaytman, Aura Rosenberg and Union Gaucha Productions with Fabio Kacero.
Image Credit: “Visibility”, curated by John Miller. Installation view of Lutz Bacher and Josiah McElheny. Courtesy of the artists and Campoli Presti Gallery.
