19 February – 30 March, 2002
Exhibition
Opening reception February 19, 6-8pm
The Spencer Brownstone Gallery is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of Swiss artist Lori Hersberger. In conjunction with his present show at the Swiss Institute, this exhibition is as an installation of light and paintings.
Lori Hersberger moved to painting from other media in the mid-nineties after gaining international recognition with his video and carpet installations. His interest developed from the direct physical relationship with this medium and the liberty a white canvas can offer. By avoiding the binary process of digital media he had become accustomed to, he found the ability to pursue this ideal of freedom. Unfiltered through the processes of modern technology his thoughts and emotions impact the canvas directly. This series of canvases were painted in fragments within the same time period. His energy is directed to one particular portion of the canvas with the goal of freeing himself from the course he has followed up to that point.
Within his work, Hersberger investigates concepts as converse as his two current exhibitions in New York reflect. His fluo canvases and mirror paintings are on one hand meant to surpass reality in the way they allow him to create his own illusions. The un-natural colours result in a hyperartificial perception, while on the other hand, the mirror paintings contain by reflection, reality on real time.
Hersberger was decisively influenced by the broad cultural field in general, in which the visual arts in the strict sense are only one of the actors. An artist must gain a new freedom, separated from established art and even apart from his own stylistic preferences.
Artist Bio
Hersberger gained international recognition with his large installation at the Venice Biennale in 1999. His work has been exhibited in major museums and galleries such as the Museum für Gegenwartskunst in Basel, Centre d'Art in Neuchâtel, Schirm Kunsthalle, Frankfurt,/M., Bob Van Orsouw Galerie, Zurich, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg etc