When Fiction is Rendered True
When Fiction is Rendered True
Online from June 14 – August 9, 2020
Curated by Titus McBeath
Virtual Opening: Sunday, June 14
Presented by Kunstraum LLC
Artists: Eunyoung Ham, Amelia Tru, Shahar Kramer
and Titus McBeath
Kunstraum LLC is pleased to present When Fiction is Rendered True, a group exhibition including works from Eunyoung Ham, Amelia Tru Harrell, Shahar Kramer, and Titus McBeath. These New York-based artists explore a collective concern for the problems created by capitalism and examine the reality of consumerism and mass production. This show combines sculpture, video, mechanics, and new media in a time when we are no longer able to distinguish the spectacle from the spectator or private from public.
Inspecting individual outcomes of our paradoxical culture, these artists break artificial boundaries that cause social alienation through the use of technology. They adapt this new technology as a medium to create, combining it with inspiration from Dadaism and Pop Art, to reevaluate the notion of the everyday object. The artists use common objects to observe and juxtapose their initial function with personal culture to gain insight into human dependence and vulnerability.
Rendered essential in light of the new tragic era of COVID-19, Eunyoung Ham uses industrially produced materials, such as paper towels and concrete, to function as a base for her sculptures; infusing the materials intended use with a fragility that we only now understand. Ham uses distinct materials to express the disparity between function and aspiration, bringing common rituals closer to the sublime through a repetitive process. Her work reflects the dichotomy of society and the imbalances of power to comment on the failure of modernity.
Using found objects and mosaic tile, Amelia Tru Harrell captures and works with signs of the weathering process. She monitors the decay of small objects and stones found on beach combing trips that have lost their familiar attributes. Harrell’s work focuses on our relationship to the environment and the material surfaces closest to us.
Artist Shahar Kramer presents video-based work that speaks to the commodification of the human body and its personal information. The image created in 28 Kisses I Bought from Craigslist tells a story of life in the reality of social distancing with an emphasis on our internal need for physical touch. Her work exists between art and life, oscillating between documentary and staged production.
Titus McBeath utilizes 3D printing and new media to create works engaging with the enduring repetition of manufacturing and labor. Using the wall as a stage for sculpture he questions the viability and necessity of artmaking in a time that relies heavily on materials intended use.
This group of work is the result of meditations on everyday life. Data we create on a daily basis has become increasingly more valuable. From the toothpaste we use, and our personal musical taste, to the time we wake up every morning. These artists recognize a nebulous currency embedded in our actions and extract something fruitful. The works reference what we do, say, like, desire, and despise, everything that makes us human.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a walkthrough and reception on June 21 with the exhibition curator, Titus McBeath, and the participating artists.
Please note that the exhibition schedule and dates are possibly subject to change due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Address: Kunstraum LLC, 20 Grand Ave, Space 509, Brooklyn, NY 11205
Hours: Thu - Sat 12-6 PM by appointment only – please contact us first!
Contact: Nadja Marcin, 646.924.9656, nadja@kunstraumllc.com
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Image credit: Amelia Tru Harrel, Lost Fragments, 2019, Photo courtesy of the artist