Wallwerk Josephine Baker, Brittni Ann Harvey, Cole Lu
Exhibition viewsJosephine Baker about Wallwerk
-
Text by Cédric Fauq (EN)
Wallwerk is the name of a city on the moon, on the north side of the Schröter crater; a city which would have been observed by Munich-based astronomer and urologist Franz von Paula Gruithuisen in 1822 through a refractive telescope. He would develop on his observations and discoveries in a pamphlet he would publish two years later (in German): Discovery of Many Distinct Traces of Lunar Inhabitants, Especially of One of Their Colossal Buildings (1824). Weirdly enough, the publication only contains one page of – beautiful – illustrations, an attempt at proving how certain irregularities on the surface of the satellite, believed to be manifestations of walls, fortifications and roads, hinted at a developed form of life on the moon. While these theories were disputed from the moment they were shared, Gruithuisen got a position at the University of Munich in 1926 as Professor of Astronomy, notably for his contributions to the “meteorite impact theory”, which argued that the moon’s craters were formed by meteorites, rather than volcanic eruptions. A fabulous essay titled “In search of historical roots of the meteorite impact theory: Franz von Paula Gruithuisen as the first proponent of an impact cratering model for the Moon in the 1820s” (2019) by geologist Grzegorz Racki explains it all. What interests us here, however, in the context of this exhibition, is how the discovery of Wallwerk and the inception of the meteorite impact theory, beyond the search for scientific truth, could be seen as projected sculptural gestures. In many ways, the drawings of the walls and roads forming the lunar city look more like proto-land art rather than urban planning. The ones that aim at explaining the formation of craters on the moon via meteorites display a sculptural gesture, in action. If I am speaking about “projected sculptural gestures”, it’s because Gruithuisen was never able to touch the moon, physically. But what if we consider his observations, writings and drawings like the primary sculptural act? What if he did sculpt the moon through his work anyway? And how does this equate to a form of space colonisation? The three artists gathered in Wallwerk not only offer orientations – look at that compass’ needle on one of Brittni’s sculptures, indicating a false North, or the stereoscope on one of Cole’s assemblages, but also traps and obstacles – both of Josephine’s sculptures operate at the intersection of landscaping and fencing while looking like vessels. All three artists are also inhabiting a space at the junction between sculpture, drawing and painting, which blurs the lines between flatness and relief, wall works that are not for walls: there are bumps, peaks and valleys, everywhere you look. This also manifests through the materiality of the work in presence, testimonies to an ambivalent violence/care polarity at play in the production of the works: Brittni tears fabrics to then tend to its wounds, Josephine alludes to clouds through cotton wool on anticlimb spikes, and Cole burns surfaces to better tell the stories of Geryon and the Moon Hoax. At the end, there’s tenderness, but there’s also rain. I’ll leave it there and see you soon. In the hope that you find your own lunar town.
Text by Cédric Fauq (Curator Palais de Tokyo)
-
Text by Cédric Fauq (DE)
Wallwerk ist der Name einer Stadt auf dem Mond, auf der Nordseite des Schröter-Kraters; eine Stadt, die wohl vom Münchner Astronomen und Urologen Franz von Paula Gruithuisen in 1822 durch ein Brechungsteleskop gesichtet wurde. Seine Beobachtungen und Entdeckungen führte er in einem Pamphlet weiter aus, das er zwei Jahre später herausbrachte: Entdeckung Vieler Deutlicher Spuren Der Mondbewohner: Besonders Eines Colossalen Kunstgebäudes Derselben (1824). Seltsamerweise, beinhaltet die Publikation nur eine Seite mit dafür sehr schönen Abbildungen, Damit versuchte man gewisse Unregelmäßigkeiten auf der Oberfläche des Sateliten, die man für Mauern, Festungen und Straßen hielt, als eine Art Zeichen für fortgeschrittenes Leben auf dem Mond auszulegen. Obwohl diese Theorien bereits zum Zeitpunkt ihres Erscheinens kontrovers diskutiert wurden, wurde Gruithuisen dennoch 1926 zum Professor für Astronomie an die Universität in München berufen, was vor allem zurückzuführen war auf seinen Beitrag zur „Meteoriten- Einschlag-Theorie.“ Diese besagt, dass die Mondkrater nicht von vulkanischen Ausbrüchen herstammen, sondern von Meteoriten geformt wurden. Ein fabulöser Aufsatz mit dem Titel „Auf der Suche nach den historischen Wurzeln der Meteoriten-Einschlag-Theorie: Franz von Paula Gruithuisen als erster Verfechter des Einschlagkrater-Modells für den Mond in den 1820ern“, geschrieben vom Geologen Grzegorz Racki, erklärt das alles. Was uns jedoch im Rahmen dieser Ausstellung interessiert, ist, wie die Entdeckung von Wallwerk und die Einführung der Meteoriten-Einschlag-Theorie, als projizierte skulpturale Gesten gesehen werden können, die über die Suche nach wissenschaftlicher Wahrheit hinausgehen. In vielerlei Hinsicht wirken die Zeichnungen der Mauern und Straßen, die der Lunarstadt Form geben sollen, eher wie urförmige Land Art als wie ein Stadtplan. Diejenigen, die versuchten die Kraterentstehung durch Meteoriten zu erklären, zeigten eine skulpturale Geste auf, durch Aktion. Wenn ich hier von „projizierten skulpturalen Gesten“ spreche, dann deshalb, weil Gruithuisen den Mond ja nie berührt hat, physisch. Was aber wenn wir seine Beobachtungen, Schriften und Zeichnungen als den primären skulpturalen Akt betrachten? Was wenn er durch sein Werk den Mond doch bildhauerisch geformt hat? Und wie ist das gleichzusetzen mit einer Art Weltraumkolonisation? Die drei Künstler:innen, die in Wallwerk zusammenkommen, bieten nicht nur Orientierungspunkte an – schau Dir die Kompassnadel auf einer von Brittnis Skulpturen an, die ein falsches Norden zeigt, oder das Stereoskop auf einer von Coles Assemblagen. Sie zeigen auch Fallen und Hindernisse auf – beide Skulpturen von Josephine behandeln die schmale Linie zwischen Landschaftsbau und Einzäunung und sehen dabei aus wie Schiffe. Alle drei Künstler:innen bewegen sich zudem in den sich überschneidenden Bereichen zwischen Skulptur, Zeichnung und Malerei, wodurch sie die Grenzen zwischen Flachheit und Relief durchbrechen. Wandarbeiten, die nicht für Wände gedacht sind: da gibt es Beulen, Spitzen und Tale, überall wohin das Auge reicht. Das manifestiert sich auch in der Materialität der Arbeiten, die sich wie Bekundungen zu einer ambivalenten Polarität zwischen Gewalt und Fürsorge lesen lassen. Das fällt auch schon im Herstellprozess der Arbeiten auf: Brittni zerreisst Stoffe, um sich dann deren Wunden zu widmen, Josephine befestigt Baumwolle auf Anti-Climb-Zäunen, die an aufgespießte Wolken denken lassen, und Cole verbrennt Oberflächen, um die Sagen von Geryon und dem Mondschwindel besser erzählen zu können. Zum Schluss ist da Zärtlichkeit, aber auch Regen. Ich lass das hier so stehen und wir sehen uns bald. In der Hoffnung, dass Du Deine eigene lunare Stadt findest.
Text von Cédric Fauq (Kurator - Palais de Tokyo, Paris)
Translation: Tatjana Schaefer
-
Brittni Ann Harvey
In 1822, Munich-based astronomer and urologist Franz von Paula Gruithuisen (1774 – 1852) believed he had discovered a city on the moon, through the observation of ramparts and walls on the satellite’s surface. He would publish the results of his research two years later in Discovery of Many Distinct Traces of Lunar Inhabitants, Especially of One of Their Colossal Buildings (1824) and gave a name to the city. It would be called Wallwerk. Nearly 200 years later, an exhibition of the same name lands at Nir Altman gallery, containing newly-produced sculptures, paintings, engravings and other wall works by Brittni Ann Harvey, Josephine Baker and Cole Lu.
BRITTNI ANN HARVEY
born 1992, Newport, RI, USA
Lives and works in Fall River, MA, USA
Solo & two-person exhibitions
2020 NADA Fair, Motel, Online viewing room
2016 Sentinels, Pretty Days, Newport, RI
An Inconvenient Hoax, Brittni Ann Harvey & Harry Gould Harvey IV, Farewell Books, Austin, TX
2015 House Plants, Brittni Ann Harvey & Harry Gould Harvey IV, Proxy, Providence, RI
Group exhibitions
2021 Bell, Book & Candle, Kunsthalle Wichita, Wichita, KS
2020 Group Exhibition #1, Fall River Museum of Contemporary Art, Fall River, Massachusetts
2019 Enduring Violence, curated by Matthew Tully Dugan, 130 E. Flagler Street, Miami, FL
Bone Meal, Motel, Brooklyn, NY
kNOW you WON’t, Alyssa Davis Gallery, New York, NY
Can You Dream It?, Kristen Lorello Gallery, New York, NY
2018 The Burn Show, Safe Gallery, East Hampton, NY
Yukon Gold, 891 N. Main, Providence, RI
2017 Zing Zam Blunder, Harbinger Projects, Reykjavik, ISL
The Paperweight Show, Fisher Parrish, Brooklyn, NY
2015 Yin Yang, 99 Cent Plus Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Modes of Production, ATM Gallery, Austin, TX
2014 Boys, Boys, Boys, Expose, Providence, RI
Enlargement Show, Headquarters, Northampton, MA
-
Cole Lu
In 1822, Munich-based astronomer and urologist Franz von Paula Gruithuisen (1774 – 1852) believed he had discovered a city on the moon, through the observation of ramparts and walls on the satellite’s surface. He would publish the results of his research two years later in Discovery of Many Distinct Traces of Lunar Inhabitants, Especially of One of Their Colossal Buildings (1824) and gave a name to the city. It would be called Wallwerk. Nearly 200 years later, an exhibition of the same name lands at Nir Altman gallery, containing newly-produced sculptures, paintings, engravings and other wall works by Brittni Ann Harvey, Josephine Baker and Cole Lu.
COLE LU
b. Taipei, Taiwan, lives and works in New York, US
Education
2014 MFA, Washington University in St. Louis
Selected Solo & Two Person Exhibitions
2021 Yaby (with Jesse Darling), Madrid, ES (forthcoming)
2019 The Dust Enforcer (All These Darlings Said It’s the End and Now US), Deli Gallery, New York, US
The Third Lie, Syndicate, POPPOSITIONS, Brussels, BE
2018 Augusta Prima, 77 Mulberry, New York, US
Animal Fancy, Monaco, St. Louis, US
While Removing the Garbage or Paying the Cleaner (with andré filipek magaña), curated by Eileen Isagon Skyers, American Medium, New York, US
2017 Pacific Rose, Millitzer Gallery, St. Louis, US
2015 SMELLS LIKE CONTENT, Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis, US
2014 SUPER SAD TRUE LOVE STORY, fort gondo compound for the arts, St. Louis, US
Selected Solo & Collaborative Projects
2021 High Limits, Autarkia, online (forthcoming)
2015 Poetry + The Politics of Joy, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, US
#holyexperiment, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, online
2014 Marfa Dialogues/ St. Louis, in collaboration with Ballroom Marfa, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, and fort gondo
compound for the arts, St. Louis, US
In the Midwest with Objects, in collaboration with Jessica Baran, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, US
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021 Wallwerk, Nir Altman, Munich, DE (forthcoming February 2021)
In Collaboration with CFGNY, Auto Italia, London, UK (forthcoming April 2021)
Bring It Home, curated by Anne Thompson and Ramon Tejada, Usdan Gallery, Bennington College,
Bennington, US (forthcoming March 2021)
Transient Grounds, curated by Constanza Valenzuela and Jack Radley, NARS in Governors Island, New York, US (forthcoming September 2021)
2020 100 Drawings from Now, The Drawing Center, New York, US
NADA Miami with Bri Williams, Et al. Gallery, San Francisco, US & Syndicate, Vilnius, LT
pen pressure, curated by Yaby, Haus Wien, Vienna, AT
The Immigrant Artist Biennale [TIAB], curated by Katya Grokhovsky, EFA Project Space, New York, US
FAIR, with AALA Gallery and Syndicate, NADA, online
I fantasize a springtime and cry, curated by Yaby, La Casa Encendida, online
Beyond the Visible, curated by We Narrate Us, 630 Flushing Ave, 630 Flushing Ave, New York, US
LOVE 2020, curated by Rachel Stern, LeRoy Neiman Gallery, Columbia University, New York, US
01102020, curated by Y2K Group, Fisher Parrish Gallery, New York, US
2019 Cassie's, a one-day off-site show, Et al. Gallery, Oakland, US
Lararium, Deli Gallery, New York, US
F(r)iction (with Kara Gut and Ann Hirsch), Hopkins Hall Gallery, Ohio State University, Columbus, US
2018 note: standing prop, Manila Institute, 55 Walker, New York, US
Ambient Commons, 77 Mulberry, New York, US
How to Fall with Grace, K-Gold Temporary Gallery, Arisvi Club, Kalloní, Lesvos, GR
The Patio, Syndicate, Arcade, London, UK
NURTUREart: Single Channel, Anthology Film Archives, New York, US
OVC, organized by Meg Onli and Lauren Downing, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, US
A/PUBLIC, curated by Adrienne Hall, Monika Uchiyama, and Connie Yu, Kelly Writers House, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, US
2017 FAIR., curated by Micol Heborn, Brickell City Center, Miami Beach, US
The Palest of Green Pink and Mauve, Camayuhs, Atlanta, US
ArtPrize On Screen, ArtPrize 2017, Grand Rapids, US
The Soothing Center, curated by Jesse Firestone, Trestle Projects, New York, US
VOX XIII, juried by Aria Dean and David Hartt, Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA
Vagabond Time Killers, The Wassaic Project, Wassaic, US
Brave New World /LABIRINTO II, Teatro Studio Uno, Rome, IT
Nobody's Home, DEMO Project, Springfield, US
2016 ENDLESS BIENNIAL, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York, US
Streetlight, Roman Susan, Chicago, US
The Soothing Center, curated by Jesse Firestone, The Paresian Hotel, Miami Beach, US
Video! Video!: Deja Vu, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, US
Brave New World, curated by Nicolas Vamvouklis, K-Gold Temporary Gallery, Lesvos, GR
Library of the Last Line, in the exhibition of No Diving!, Roman Susan, Chicago, US
FILE: Electronic Language International Festival, Fiesp Cultural Center - Ruth Cardoso, São Paulo, BR
I Never Read, Kaserne Basel, Basel, SZ
MISS READ, Akademie Der Künste Hanseatenweg, Berlin, DE
SLICES, curated by Current Studio, deadCenter Film Festival, Oklahoma City, US
Concept/ Focus Triennial, curated by Adam Welch, AHHA Tulsa, Tulsa, US & The Luminary, St. Louis, US
FELT BOOK, Institute for New Feeling, Werkärtz, Los Angeles, US
[dis]Corporate Bodies: Undermining the Institution, The Unstitute, London, UK
2015 Odds and Ends Book Fair, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, US
Soft Architecture, public signage installation, Westminster Press, St. Louis, US
The Wrong (again)- New Digital Art Biennale, Homeostasis Lab, URL
Open Projector Showcase, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, US
Not Big Issue, Invisible Space, Taipei, TW
Element of Desire, curated by Stephanie Young, CENTRAL BOOKING ARTSPACE, New York, US
2014 As Unstable As, organized by Kevin Harris, Kranzberg Arts Center, St. Louis, US
Just one example of the total wrongness of something I tend to be automatically sure of, curated by Jessica
Baran, Ely Walker Gallery, St. Louis, US
Beyond Violet with the Emperor Scorpion, curated by Gretchen Wagner, Des Lee Gallery, St. Louis, US
Strategic Strategies: Hacking The Pulitzer, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, US
2013 Learning from Donald Judd, in collaboration with Pulitzer Arts Foundation, fort gondo compound for the arts,
St. Louis, US
Selected Publications
2021 Inpatient Press, New York, US (forthcoming)
CHWP: Coffee House Writer’s Project, Coffee House Press, Minneapolis, US
2020 100 Drawings from Now, The Drawing Center, New York, US
Hello? God Is The Space Between Us (poems by Cristine Brache, CAConrad, Anaïs Duplan, Penny Goring,
Rob Goyanes, E. Jane, Rindon Johnson, Cole Lu, Sara Magenheimer, Eileen Myles, Precious Okoyomon,
Umar Rashid (Frohawk Two Feathers), Martine Syms, dana washington-queen, Tanaya Winde), anonymous,
New York, US
2019 Back to School Special (Poems by Rosie Stockton, Cole Lu, Jaime Chu, Ty Little, Devin Kenny, and Laura
Marie Marciano), WONDER, New York, US
Two Poems in Shitwonder, WONDER, New York, US
2018 Augusta Prima, Endless Editions, New York, US
CODÉTTE JOURNAL #3, CODÉTTE, New York, US
A/ PUBLIC, Kelly Writers House, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, US
2017 SET/ journal of innovative writing, elis press, Issue 3
Verb List Complication (with Beth Caird), Little Paper Planes, San Francisco, US
Queer Drive, Glass Press of the Future, Issue 3
DIDACTIC: a selection of text and image from Syntax Season, AM + PRINTtEXT, Indianapolis, US
2016 Library of the Last Line, fort gondo compound for the arts, St. Louis, US
FELT BOOK, Institute for New Feeling, Los Angeles, US
"Soft Architecture/ Diary, 15 May 1905", The Seventh Wave, Issue 2, New York, US
2015 SMELLS LIKE CONTENT, Endless Editions, New York, US
"Palmist", Please Hold Magazine, Issue #3, St. Louis, US
2014 SUPER SAD TRUE LOVE STORY, fort gondo compound for the arts, St. Louis, US
MECHANICAL COMMUNICATION GUTS -- . -.-. .... .- -. .. -.-. .- .-.. / -.-. --- -- -- ..- -. .. -.-. .- - .. --- -. / --. ..- - ...,
Washington University Open Scholarship, St. Louis, US
Horses, Cole Lu, 2014/ Horses, Patti Smith, 1975, PIECRUST, Issue #6: Mincemeat, St. Louis, US
1.666666, Le Wobble, Issue #5, St. Louis, US
2013 Lunar Harvest, Kyoto Plastic Man, Vol. 5: No Armstrong, Taipei, TW
Selected Bibliography
Claire Milbrath. “Cole Lu”, Editorial Magazine, Anniversary Issue 20, 2020
Inga Charlotte Thiele, “The World Pulse Beats Beyond My Door”, PW Magazine, October 13, 2020
Coco Fitterman, “Combination Acts: The Devil of Affinities”, Brand New Life, May 26, 2020
Benedikt Kuhn, “Figurations Through Volcanic Ash (Minor Demonology)”, Hugo Zorn, March 25, 2020
Sohrab Mohebbi in "THE BELLWETHERS RING IN THE ROARING TWENTIES", Cultured Magazine, Winter 2019
Interview, by Adriana Blidaru, Living Content, November 2019
Cole Lu at Deli Gallery, Art Viewer, November 2019
Cole Lu: The Dust Enforcer, Hugo Zorn, October 2019
The Dust Enforcer (All These Darlings Said It’s the End and Now US) by Cole Lu at Deli Gallery, New York, Tzevetnik, October 2019
Dana Kopel, "In Reviews: Cole Lu at 77 Mulberry", Flash Art, Issue 324, February – March 2019
Cole Lu at 77 Mulberry / NY, Daily Lazy, January 2019
Augusta Prima by Cole Lu at 77 Mulberry, New York, Tzvetnik, January 2019
"Cole Lu: Animal Fancy", Interview by Stephanie Kang, Flash Art, October 2018
How to Fall with Grace @ K-Gold Temporary Gallery, journal.fyi, September 2018
Q&A: Cole Lu, Interview by Jessica Baran, Strange Fire Collective, August 2018
Animal Fancy by Cole Lu at Monaco, St. Louis, Tzvetnik, July 2018
Charlie Markbreiter, “Critics Pick: Andre Filipek & Cole Lu at American Medium”, Artforum, June 2018
Logan Lockner, "The Palest of Green, Pink and Mauve", The Rib, December 2017
"Best of 2017: Our Top 15 Brooklyn Art Shows", Hyperallergic, December 2017
Maggie Kunze, "Nobody’s Home at DEMO Project", Sixty Inches From Center, May 2017
Emma Dent, " On View: 'Pacific Rose' at The Millitzer", St. Louis Magazine, May 2017
Jenny Lam, "10 art gallery exhibitions to check out in January", Time Out Chicago, January 2016
Cole Lu: Smells Like Content | Things to do in St. Louis, Time Out St. Louis, July 2015
Lori Waxman, "60 Wrd/Min Art Critic", St. Louis Public Radio, March 2015
KDHX (independent radio), Interview, Literature for the Halibut, January 2015
"Artists' Directory: Cole Lu", Aesthetica Magazine, Issue 61, October/ November 2014
Readings, Talks, Lectures, and Workshops
2020 Artist Talk (with Nabuqi), organized by Trigger, NEW INC, online
Reading, The Tower by Paul Legault Book Launch, Deli Gallery, online
Virtual Studio Visit Loop, with P_Lub (Lu Zhang, Herb Tam and Trisha Baga), online
Reading, HOME-O-EROTIC, curated by LA Warman, In Company With performances, readings and screenings series, Company Gallery, online
Panelist, Asian Diasporas in Contemporary Art: Myths of Homeland and Return, 630 Flushing, New York, US
Reading (with Paul Legault), LOVE 2020, LeRoy Neiman Gallery, Columbia University, New York, US
Reading, Artists and Writings, Living Content Reading Series, Wendy’s Subway, Brooklyn, US
2019 Reading, Cixous 72, Codex, New York, US
Reading, Listen and you might feel better, Motif Wein, Berlin, DE
Reading/ Performance, The Third Lie, POPPOSITIONS, Brussels, BE
Lecture, Virtual Visiting Artist Program, University of Mississippi, Oxford, US
Artist Talk, Ohio State University, Columbus, US
Visiting Artist, Artist Publications, Maine College of Art, Portland, US
2018 Guest Critic, Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, US
Reading, CODÉTTE Journal #3 Release, American Medium, New York, US
Artist Talk, While Removing the Garbage or Paying the Cleaner, American Medium, New York, US
Reading/ Performance, Maruša Sagadin: ‘Citizen Janes’ with Syndicate, NADA New York, New York, US
2017 Panelist, Methodology/ Creative Process, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, US
Reading/ Performance, Amy's Kitchen Organics Reading Series, San Francisco, US
Artist Talk, Little Paper Planes, Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco, US
2016 Panelist, To Make a Public: Temporary Art Review 2011-16, The Luminary, St. Louis, US
Artist Zine Workshop, Saint Louis Public Library, St. Louis, US
Lecture, Portfolio Plus Program, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, US
Panelist, a Film as Art: deadCenter Film Festival public panel discussion, Current Studio, Oklahoma City, US
You Are Looking Good, A Real Good Looker, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, US
2015 Poetry + The Politics of Joy, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, US
Artist Zine Workshop, Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, US
Panelist, Methodology/ Creative Process, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, US
Lecture, Portfolio Plus Program, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, US
Guest Critic, Design Concept, Webster University, St. Louis, US
Guest Critic, Social Practice and Art, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, US
2014 Reading, The Subconscious Restaurant with White Fungus Magazine, Index Book Fair, Jalisco, MX
Reading, Marfa Dialogues STL: Everybody Talks about Weather with Ballroom Marfa & Pulitzer Arts
Foundation, St. Louis, US
Residencies
2019 Triangle Residency, Triangle Arts Association, New York, US
2017 LPP+ Residency at Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco, US
2016 The Wassaic Artist Residency, Wassaic, US
2015 I-70 Sign Show Residency, The I-70 Sign Show, URL
Copy Shop Artist Residency, Endless Editions, New York, US
Awards
2018 Contact series Book Commission Shortlist, Book Works, London, UK
2017 ArtPrize On Screen, ArtPrize, Grand Rapids, US
Vermont Studio Center Fellowship, Johnson, US
2016 Concept/ Focus Artist Award, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, Oklahoma City, US
2015 Signature Art Prize Finalist, Signature Art Prize 2015, London, UK
2014 Skowhegan Alumni Finalist, The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, US
Dedalus Grant Nominee, The Dedalus Foundation, New York, US
Collections
MoMA | The Museum of Modern Art Artists' Book Collection
Pratt Institute Library Special Collection
Washington University in St. Louis Library Special Collection
St. Louis Public Library Central Zine Library
Denver Zine Library
-
Josephine Baker
In 1822, Munich-based astronomer and urologist Franz von Paula Gruithuisen (1774 – 1852) believed he had discovered a city on the moon, through the observation of ramparts and walls on the satellite’s surface. He would publish the results of his research two years later in Discovery of Many Distinct Traces of Lunar Inhabitants, Especially of One of Their Colossal Buildings (1824) and gave a name to the city. It would be called Wallwerk. Nearly 200 years later, an exhibition of the same name lands at Nir Altman gallery, containing newly-produced sculptures, paintings, engravings and other wall works by Brittni Ann Harvey, Josephine Baker and Cole Lu.
For Josephine Baker, making sculptures is like writing alternative physical stories to those with which we fabricate our world. The industrially-processed materials she uses are reconfigured and reimagined in the studio, into a questioning of the economic, ideological and human-centric forces that have produced them. As if in a microclimate of exchanges, the elements that make up Baker’s practice allegorise events to each other: Representations of landscape and natural phenomena challenge their role within imperialist worldviews; raw materials speak back to their consumable realities; tools take on their functions in zoomorphic form; and narratives of labour and survival are unearthed from the urban terrains which surround us.
Josephine Baker (b. 1990, London, UK) completed her undergraduate studies at Central Saint Martins in London in 2012, and her postgraduate in 2017 from the Royal Academy Schools, London. Her recent exhibitions include: Outfallers, Nir Altman, Munich, 2022 (solo); Drawing Attention: emerging British artists, British Museum, London, 2022; Clear out the wounds closest to the sun, V.O Curations, London, 2021 (solo); Wallwerk, Nir Altman, Munich, 2021; Drawing Room Biennial, London, 2021; The Land Lies, ChertLüdde, Berlin, 2020 (solo); well, well, well..., Sundy, London, 2020; Islands, Kupfer, London, 2019 (solo). She was a 12-month resident award holder at British School at Rome 2017–18. Her book Submarines, in collaboration with writer M. Ty, will be launched this November, a preview of which will be viewable at Frieze London 2022.Education
2014 - 2017
Royal Academy Schools, London / Postgraduate Diploma Fine Art
2009 - 2012
Central Saint Martins College, London / BA Fine Art
2011
Pratt Institute, New York / semester exchange programme
2006 - 2009
Arts University Bournemouth / Foundation & National Diplomas in Art & Design
Selected exhibitions
2022
Outfallers, Nir Altman, Munich DE (solo)
Drawing Attention: emerging British artists, British Museum, London UK
Frieze London with Nir Altman, Munich (solo)
2021
Clear out the wounds closest to the sun, V.O Curations, London (solo)
Wallwerk, Nir Altman, Munich DE
Drawing Biennial, Drawing Room, London UK
2020
The Land Lies, ChertLüdde, Berlin DE (solo)
well, well, well..., Sundy, London UK
Wreck or Ruin, v.o.Curations, London UK2019
sottile spessore, Progettoarte-Elm, Milan IT
Islands, Kupfer Project Space, London UK (solo)
Correction, Tintype summer window, London UK (solo)
The Book of Dreams, Chapel on the Green, Wales UK1D for abroad, Tintype, London UK
Drawing Biennial, Drawing Room, London UKSheltering Sky, GAO, London UK
2018
Flood-tide, Love Unlimited, Glasgow UK
Trout Steel, e Horse Hospital, London UK
Serpent and Shadow, Royal Academy of Arts, London UK
Night Music, British School at Rome, Rome IT (solo)March and June Mostre, British School at Rome, Rome IT
Terraforms, e Concept Space, London UK2017
RA Schools Show, Royal Academy of Arts, London UK
Residencies
2017 - 2018
Award holder (12 months) / British School at Rome
2015
Summer Institute of Art, European Graduate School, Switzerland
Awards
2019
Mark Tanner Sculpture Award (shortlisted)
2017-2018
Sainsbury Scholarship in Painting and Sculpture / British School at Rome
2017
The Andre Dunoyer de Segonzac Hon RA Prize
2016
The Ivor Rey Travel Prize, Paris
-
All works
Cole Lu - Across the deck, i can hear my mother gasp at the sound of rattling metal. nothing looks like what it was here before. shadows move around over the deck, but there was nothing there but a crowd of white faces roaring liftoff! (the ocean is near, the sea, far), 2021, black brushed stainless steel, sextant (pedestal: metal, concrete plaster), 35.6 x 66 x 6.3 cm 
Cole Lu - (Details) Across the deck, i can hear my mother gasp at the sound of rattling metal. nothing looks like what it was here before. shadows move around over the deck, but there was nothing there but a crowd of white faces roaring liftoff! (the ocean is near, the sea, far), 2021, black brushed stainless steel, sextant (pedestal: metal, concrete plaster), 35.6 x 66 x 6.3 cm 
Brittni Ann Harvey - Lamb of god (bowing robot dog), 2021, embroidered polyester, plywood, polypill, bronze, 50 x 105 x 60 cm 
Cole Lu - Because of all these burns on the body, we are sitting on the ice. Later he learned to use a wood plank to make a back brace, strapped the wing tight (geryon), 2021, burnt linen, rubberwood, 62.2 X 40.6 X 5.1 cm 
Cole Lu - (Details) Because of all these burns on the body, we are sitting on the ice. Later he learned to use a wood plank to make a back brace, strapped the wing tight (geryon), 2021, burnt linen, rubberwood, 62.2 X 40.6 X 5.1 cm 
Cole Lu - Of course, pain is a condition, and all conditions are temporary. He walked the width of his mind through the alps with blood in his teeth (“let them alone: they are blind, and leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the pit”) , 2021, burnt linen, rubber wood, 62.2 X 40.6 X 5.1 cm 
Cole Lu - (Details) Of course, pain is a condition, and all conditions are temporary. He walked the width of his mind through the alps with blood in his teeth (“let them alone: they are blind, and leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the pit”) , 2021, burnt linen, rubber wood, 62.2 X 40.6 X 5.1 cm 
Josephine Baker - Crossing (1), 2021, anticlimb spikes, brass bars, caulk, charcoal, cotton wool, dover chalk, glass, grout, paints, pigments, pine, plaster, plywood, roofing felt, screws, silicone, tiles, wood piping brackets, 120 x 174 x 43 cm 
Josephine Baker - (Details) Crossing (1), 2021, anticlimb spikes, brass bars, caulk, charcoal, cotton wool, dover chalk, glass, grout, paints, pigments, pine, plaster, plywood, roofing felt, screws, silicone, tiles, wood piping brackets, 120 x 174 x 43 cm 
Josephine Baker - Crossing (1), 2021, anticlimb spikes, brass bars, caulk, charcoal, cotton wool, dover chalk, glass, grout, paints, pigments, pine, plaster, plywood, roofing felt, screws, silicone, tiles, wood piping brackets, 120 x 174 x 43 cm 
Cole Lu - On the seventeen-day he awoke from the cave while others were still sleeping, he thought only one day has passed, but the sundial is all weathered and aged decades over the night. No one outside the cave speaks his language anymore. He pointed to the night sky where he needed to be, but everyone around him could not see. ( “I took the bus that i was told to take, and i got off—well it was the very last stop, so i had to get off, i asked the driver was this brooklyn, and he nodded yes, but he was from one of those foreign countries where they think its good manners to nod at everything even if you have no idea what it is you’re nodding at, and in truth i think he spoke no english at all, which i think would make him ineligible for employment on public transportation. The public being english-speaking, mostly. Do you speak english?”/ the blind leading the blind) / Am siebten Tag erwachte er in der Höhle während die anderen noch schliefen, er dachte, erst ein Tag ist vergangenen, dennoch ist die Sonnenuhr verwittert und um Dekaden gealtert über Nacht. Niemand mehr aussserhalb der Höhle spricht noch seine Sprache. Er deutete auf den nächtlichen Himmel, wo er sein sollte, aber jeder um ihn herum konnte nicht sehen. („Ich nahm den Bus, den man mir sagte, dass ich nehmen soll, und ich stieg aus – nun ja, es war die allerletzte Station, also musste ich aussteigen, ich fragte den Fahrer, ist das hier Brooklyn, und er nickte, ja, aber er war aus einem dieser fremden Ländern, wo man denkt, es zeige gute Manieren, allem zuzunicken, auch wenn du gar nicht weisst, was du gerade nickend bejahst, und in Wirklichkeit hat er gar kein englisch gesprochen, was ihn eigentlich untauglich macht für eine Anstellung im öffentlichen verkehr. Die Öffentlichkeit ist englisch-sprechend, grösstenteils. Sprichst du englisch?“ / die Blinden führen die Blinden), 2021, burnt hardboard, silver plate, stereoscope, stereo card, marble (pedestal: metal, concrete plaster), 30.5 x 45.7 x 20.3 cm 
Josephine Baker - Crossing (2) (back side), 2021, aluminium tubing and roofing sections, anticlimb spikes, black sand, chalk, charcoal, dover chalk, clay, filler, mdf, mortar, nails, glass, paints, pigments, pine, plaster, plywood, screws, steel threading and nuts, terracotta tiles, 112 x 170 x 33 cm 
Josephine Baker - Crossing (2) (front side), 2021, aluminium tubing and roofing sections, anticlimb spikes, black sand, chalk, charcoal, dover chalk, clay, filler, mdf, mortar, nails, glass, paints, pigments, pine, plaster, plywood, screws, steel threading and nuts, terracotta tiles, 112 x 170 x 33 cm 
Josephine Baker - Crossing (2) (Details), 2021, aluminium tubing and roofing sections, anticlimb spikes, black sand, chalk, charcoal, dover chalk, clay, filler, mdf, mortar, nails, glass, paints, pigments, pine, plaster, plywood, screws, steel threading and nuts, terracotta tiles, 112 x 170 x 33 cm 
Brittni Ann Harvey - Duality devils, 2021, embroidered wool, plywood, polypill, bronze, 38.1 X 38.1 cm 
Brittni Ann Harvey - Duality devils (Details), 2021, embroidered wool, plywood, polypill, bronze, 38.1 X 38.1 cm 
Brittni Ann Harvey - Dove dives west, 2021, oil on burlap, 25.4 X 20.3 cm 
Brittni Ann Harvey - Wilted, not dead, 2021, oil on burlap, 25.4 X 20.3 cm 
Brittni Ann Harvey - Mending, 2021, oil on burlap, 25.4 X 20.3 cm 
Cole Lu - "there are no gods here, no ghosts and spirits in america, there are no angels in america, no spiritual past, no racial past, there's only the political, and the decoys and the ploys” (mare insularum), 2021, galvanised steel, soapstone, size varied 
Cole Lu - (details) "there are no gods here, no ghosts and spirits in america, there are no angels in america, no spiritual past, no racial past, there's only the political, and the decoys and the ploys” (mare insularum), 2021, galvanised steel, soapstone, size varied 
Brittni Ann Harvey - Lamb of god (clover w/ white) & lamb of god (clover w/ black), 2021, embroidered polyester, plywood, polypill, bronze, 60.3 X 27.9 cm