Buffalo, NY.- “Videosphere: A New Generation” is the first-ever exhibition of works in new media drawn exclusively from the Gallery’s Collection. Featuring twenty-six works by twenty-four artists, it highlights the Gallery’s recent acquisition of new media works with various styles and approaches. The featured artists represent both emerging talent and pioneers in the field, including Cory Arcangel, Jeremy Blake, Phil Collins, Brody Condon, James Drake, Isaac Julien, Bruce Nauman, João Onofre, Kelly Richardson, and Peter Sarkisian, each working in video, film, computer animation, and/or the repurposing and modification of old technology. “Videosphere: A New Generation” will be on view at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo from July 1st through October 9th.
Artists have been increasingly experimenting in new media since the late 1960s. According to Michael Rush in New Media in Art (2005), artists today “who employ these new media see themselves as part of the change and want to participate in it. They are excited by the possibilities of technology, not alienated by them.”Television, film, and other pervasive forms of technology make up the everyday experiences of artists, just as they make up the experiences of viewers. While artworks using new media play a novel role within the greater context of art history, their presentation within the museum setting has grown more popular as technology has advanced. Given its resonance with artists of recent generations, this genre of work has become an increasingly integral component of strategies surrounding collections of contemporary art. Not since “Being & Time: The Emergence of Video Projection”, organized in 1996 by Curator Marc Mayer, has the
Albright-Knox Art Gallery hosted an exhibition that focuses on the power and influence of new media. “Videosphere: A New Generation”, presented more than a decade after Being & Time, will debut several works that have not been installed since their acquisition into the Gallery’s Collection. It affords a unique opportunity to present the work of each artist within the context of the work of their peers. En masse, the complex works presented in this exhibition refer to social, political, psychological, and environmental themes, and create compelling narratives that can only be realized through these varied, yet distinct, media. From performance as a poignant gesture or a mirror of contemporary societal commonalities, to grandiose filmic applications and animated fantasy worlds, these works are immersive and experiential, and will take each viewer on a powerful emotional journey.
The Albright-Knox Art Gallery is dedicated to enhancing the understanding and appreciation of contemporary and modern art. Founded officially in December 1862, The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy is among the country’s oldest public arts institutions, sharing that distinction with the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia; the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford; and the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, among others. With Edward B. Green as its architect, the Greek revival structure that became the permanent home for the Albright Art Gallery was dedicated on May 31, 1905. During the middle years of the century, Seymour H. Knox, Jr., became the Gallery’s most influential supporter, not only making possible the building of a new addition designed by Gordon Bunshaft, but also amassing a brilliant collection of artworks. The group of nearly seven hundred works collected during this time still represents the most intense period of growth for the Gallery’s Collection, a result of Mr. Knox’s daring spirit, discerning judgment, and the unique partnership and vision he shared with Director Gordon M. Smith. The new wing that was dedicated in 1962, one hundred years after the founding of the Academy, stands as a testament to Mr. Knox and his vision; his generosity was reflected in the institution’s adoption of a new name, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. The Gallery’s nearly 150-year tradition of collecting, conserving, and exhibiting the art of its time has given rise to one of the world’s most extraordinary art collections, including such renowned works as “La Toilette” by Pablo Picasso, “Carnival of Harlequin” by Joan Miró, “Gotham News” by Willem de Kooning and “The Liver is the Cock’s Comb” by Arshile Gorky. The Gallery has continued to add cutting-edge contemporary art to its Collection, adding major works in recent years by such artists as Matthew Barney, Mark Bradford, Tara Donovan, Teresita Fernandez, Liam Gillick, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Mona Hatoum, Jim Lambie, Catherine Opie, Jorge Pardo, Jennifer Steinkamp, and Philip Taaffe. Visiting the Gallery today promises unexpected surprises. Constantly changing installations and special exhibitions pair contemporary art with the masterworks of modernism, always inviting a reexamination of the old with the new in innovative and exciting ways. Visit the museum’s website at … http://www.albrightknox.org