CCS

Exhibitions

Sunday, February 1–Sunday, February 24, 2004
s u s p e n d e d   s t a t e

s u s p e n d e d  s t a t e —curated by Judy Ditner, Jen Mergel, Shariann Michael, Jenny Moore, Meg Shiffler, and Simone Subal— juxtaposes both abstract and narrative works to investigate how art stimulates feelings inherent to the human condition: anticipation, curiosity, insecurity, strangeness, vulnerability, and wonder. The exhibition asks: how does the suspension of these feelings intensify their resonance? How can an artist create and use such situations to manipulate this experience for the viewer?

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(Above) Janine Antoni
Touch
2002
Video projection on DVD
Marieluise Hessel Collection on permanent loan to the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York

(Below) Robert Longo
Bodyhammer: Star S.A.
1993
Charcol and graphite on paper
Marieluise Hessel Collection on permanent loan to the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York


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In the face of uncertainty or instability, a natural inclination is to seek resolution. Denial of such resolution can create a powerful tension. Harnessing this sense of disjuncture through controlled artistic devices, the works in this exhibit elicit a viewer's anxiety to potent effect. For example, Mark Lere's Strata and Giovanni Anselmo's Untitled suggest a tension in their possible collapse. Using the symbolic icon of the pointed gun, Robert Longo's Bodyhammer: Star S. A. creates a graphic signifier of the scale and scope of the weapon's threatening violence. Peter Campus's Shadow Projection and Mona Hatoum's You are still here capture the viewer's attention through bodily approach and subtle mental paradoxes. Presenting ambiguous narratives, Gregory Crewdson's Untitled (butterflies and shed) and Eric Fischl's Help make a viewer uncertain if a scene's innocent surface hides a darker subtext. Through all of these devices, the artist's power lies in deciding how much information to give and how much to withhold.

Spanning five decades—from the 1960s to the present—the works in this exhibit represent a range of scale and diverse media, including sculpture, painting, drawing, photography, and video.  s u s p e n d e d  s t a t e  explores how a viewer's expectations are held and manipulated through such devices as narrative ambiguity and physical instability. 

s u s p e n d e d  s t a t e will be on view at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, February 1–15, alongside two other exhibitions—Assemblance and If it's not love, it's the bomb.... Curated by first-year students in the Center's graduate program, the exhibitions present works from the Marieluise Hessel Collection, on permanent loan to the Center. The exhibitions and the reception are open to the public without charge.

An opening reception is planned for Sunday, February 1, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Programs at the Center, including the first-year exhibitions, are supported by the Friends of the Center for Curatorial Studies and by the Center's annual benefit for student scholarships and exhibitions. Three groups of curatorial thesis exhibitions—curated by second-year students in the graduate program in curatorial studies and contemporary art—will be on view March 7 through March 21, April 4 through April 18, and May 9 through May 23.

Exhibition Checklist

  • Giovanni Anselmo, Untitled, 1968, granite, lettuce, and copper wire, 28 x 10 x 12 in.
  • Janine Antoni, Touch, 2002, digital video installation, ed. 1/5, 176 x 158in.
  • Richard Bosman, Tracks, 1984, oil on canvas, 96 x 74in.
  • Peter Campus, Shadow Projection, 1974, rear projection screen, overhead theatrical spot, surveillance camera; video projector, 196 5/16 x 236 1/4in.
  • Gregory Crewdson, Untitled (butterflies and shed), 2001-2002, digital c-print, ed. 5/10, 48 x 60in.
  • Eric Fischl, Help, 1980, oil on canvas, 60 x 96in.
  • Mona Hatoum, You are still here, 1994, engraved mirror, ed. AP/10, 14 3/4 x 11 7/16 in.
  • Mark Lere, Strata, 1986, anodized aluminum, 98 x15 x 13in.
  • Robert Longo, Bodyhammer: Star S.A., 1993, charcoal and graphite on paper, 97 1/2 x 49 1/2in.
  • Robert Morris, Untitled, 1976,  felt and metal grommets, 103 x 132 x 30in.
  • Perejaume, Pinture/Representaci, Delta de l'Ebre, 1989, cibachrome ed. 1/3, 76 1/4 x 73 1/4in.
  • Aida Ruilova, 3-2-1 (I Love You), 2002, single-channel video on DVD, ed. 1/5;       
  • Almost, 2002, single-channel video on DVD, ed. 1/5

Exhibition Tours

  • Sunday, February 8, 2004, 2:00 p.m.
  • Sunday, February 15, 2004, 2:00 p.m.