303 Gallery is pleased to present our 5th exhibition of work by Rodney Graham.
In the front gallery, Graham presents paintings styled in the drip manner of Morris Louis. In a light box titled "The Gifted Amateur, November 10, 1962," the artist portrays himself and also stands in as the archetypal abstract expressionist at home in the studio. This imagined paradigm plays on both the artist's and the viewer's idea of the canonized art historical figure - how it is perpetually re-envisioned and contextualized according to the effects of time and romanticized notions of the artist as domestic supernaturalist.
In the rear gallery, the artist presents a kinetic sculpture titled ‘Rotary Psycho Opticon’ - a replica of a freestanding kinetic op-art sculpture used as a backdrop for a performance by the band Black Sabbath on Belgian television in the early 1970s. By physically recreating what is essentially a readymade sculpture, the artist slyly examines fantasy as it relates to optical perception; the psychedelic patterns and movement of the sculpture itself mirroring the dreamlike haze a fan might be drawn into when imagining his favorite icons. Furthering this notion, Graham intends to use the sculpture as a backdrop for his own band’s live performances.