The Props assist the House

The Props assist the House
Until the House is built
And then the Props withdraw
And adequate, erect,
The House support itself
And cease to recollect
The Augur and the Carpenter –
Just such a retrospect
Hath the perfected Life –
A Past of Plank and Nail
And slowness – then the scaffolds drop
Affirming it a Soul –

– Emily Dickinson, ca. 1863

In Emily Dickinson’s poem, props do many things. They support a house under construction and furnish an analogy about how we mature. Props, peripheral by definition, are not usually the main focus. Their labor is often overlooked or quickly forgotten within the framework of a grander drama, but here they are recognized as an activating and altering force.

The artists in this exhibition use elements of domestic and theatrical staging to call attention to the props, imagining new roles for them and leaving the wider narrative open to interpretation. Through a variety of media including drawing, collage, lithography, sculpture, installation and photography, the works engage surrealist strategies to find the marvelous in the banal and re-assign value to the familiar. Their source materials reflect the latent influence of consumer culture on our psyches, ranging from ingestible ingredients such as barley greens powder and jawbreakers to household stuffs like ice cube trays, patterns embossed on paper towels, foil from chocolate bars and wine bottles, real estate ads and fashion magazines. Architectural figurines, facades and floor plans shift standards of scale and proportion, inviting us to rewrite the scripts that dictate how we move through public and private spaces.

Dickinson implies that certain props are no longer needed after a time, although a house, like a life, is always a work in development.

Milano Chow (b. 1987, Los Angeles) lives and works in Los Angeles. She received her BA from Barnard College in 2009 and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2013. She has had solo exhibitions at Chapter NY, New York, Galleria Acappella, Naples, and Mary Mary, Glasgow. Recent group exhibitions include the Whitney Biennial 2019 at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; For Mario at Tina Kim Gallery, New York; The Beyond: Georgia O’Keeffe and Contemporary Art at Crystal Bridges, Bentonville, AR, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC, and New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT; A Slice Through the World at Drawing Room London & Modern Art Oxford, Oxford, UK. She is a 2018 recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. Her work was recently acquired by the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

William Leavitt (b. 1941, Washington, D.C.) lives and works in Los Angeles. Recent solo exhibitions include Greene Naftali, New York (2019); Frank Elbaz Gallery, Paris; Musée d’art moderne et contemporain, Genève (2017); Institute of the History and Theory of Architecture, ETH, Zurich (2014); Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles (2012); Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2011); and LAXART, Los Angeles (2009). His work is in the collections of Boijmans van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam; Hammer Museum, UCLA, Los Angeles; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California; San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, California; and Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.

Nancy Lupo (b. 1983, Flagstaff) lives and works in Los Angeles. Recent solo exhibitions include The Square at Noon, Visual Arts Center, Austin (2019); No Country for Old Men, Antennae Space, Shanghai (2018); All Always Already, Kristina Kite Gallery, Los Angeles (2017), and Parent and Parroting, Swiss Institute, New York (2016). She has participated in several group exhibitions, including Made in L.A. 2018, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Los Angeles – A Fiction, Mac, Lyon (2017) and Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo (2016); The Poet, The Critic, and the Missing, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2016), and Taster’s Choice, MoMA PS1, New York (2014). Upcoming projects include a public commission for Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles as part of CURRENT: LA FOOD, the Public Art Triennial. Lupo’s first solo museum exhibition will open at the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego this fall.

Liliana Porter (b. Buenos Aires, 1941) has resided in New York since 1964. Porter began showing her work in 1959 and has since been in over 450 exhibitions in 40 countries. Recent solo shows include those at the Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw (2019); Blanton Museum of Art, Blanton (2018); El Museo de Barrio, New York (2018); The Perez Art Museum, Miami (2018); Galería Luciana Brito in São Paulo, Brasil (2018); ART OMI in Ghent, NY (2018); Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah (2017); El Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales, Montevideo (2017); Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes Franklin Rawson, San Juan, Argentina (2016); Museo de Arte de Zapopan, Guadalajara (2014); Sicardi Gallery, Houston (2015); Galerie Mor-Charpentier, Paris (2012); and Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston (2010). Porter’s work was featured in Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960 – 1985 at the Brooklyn Museum, New York and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2017-18). In 2017 Porter’s work was included in Viva Arte Viva, La Biennale di Venezia, 57th International Art Exhibition in Venice and the 2nd Bienal de Performance, Parque de la Memoria in Buenos Aires. Porter’s most recent theatrical performance, THEM, co-directed with Ana Tiscornia, debuted in New York at The Kitchen in 2018.

Benjamin Reiss (b.1985, Los Angeles) received his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is currently an MFA Candidate at the University of California, Irvine. Recent exhibitions include Deeper Than Inside, High Art, Paris (2019); Angel’s Share, FLAX @ Tin Flats, Los Angeles (2018); U, Utopian Visions, Portland (2018); Package Factory (Natural Marriage of Natural Resources), Bel Ami, Los Angeles (solo) (2018); Nut Art, Parker Gallery, Los Angeles; Pleasure Principle; Release and Exhibition, Actual Size, Los Angeles (2016); No Free Tax Art Month, 247365, New York (2016); Louie, Louie, Human Resources, Los Angeles (2014); and Rogue Locomotives; new work by Benjamin Reiss and Connor Thompson, Actual Size, Los Angeles (two person) (2014).

Paul Salveson (b. 1984, Washington, D.C.) received his BA from Bard College and his MFA from the University of Southern California. Salveson has presented projects at AWHRHWAR, Los Angeles (2017); JOAN, Los Angeles (2015); Favorite Goods, Los Angeles (2015); Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (2014); and Human Resources, Los Angeles (2013). Past group exhibitions include Things Themselves, Vernon Gardens, Vernon (2016); Chewing the Scenery, Icebox Project Space, Philadelphia (2016); First Book Award Showcase, Media Space, Science Museum, London (2015); Louie, Louie, Human Resources, Los Angeles (2014); Three Themes: Contemporary Connections With Paul Strand, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center (2014); Itinerant Belongings, Slought & University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (2014); Reading Photographs, Centre for Modern and Contemporary Art, La Spezia (2013); Photography For The Next Generation, Swiss Institute, New York (2009); Newest New York, Prague Biennale 4, Karlin Hall, Prague (2009); Altered, Stitched, and Gathered, MOMA PS1, New York (2006). A book of his photography, Between the Shell was published by Mack Books in 2013.

Ana Tiscornia (b. Montevideo, 1951) has resided in New York since 1991. Her work has been shown internationally in various solo shows at OMI, Ghent, New York (2018); Galeria Nora Fisch, Buenos Aires (2017); Galería del Paseo, Lima (2015); Galería Nora Fisch, Buenos Aires (2013); Museo Gurvich, Montevideo (2013); and Josee Bienvenu Gallery, New York (2013). Additionally, Tiscornia has participated in group exhibitions such as Latinoamerica: Volver al futuro, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Buenos Aires (MACBA) (2018); Jesualdo: la palabra mágica, Museo Figari, Montevideo (2017); Márgenes, Museo de Historia del Arte MUHAR, Montevideo (2017); Mujeres en el arte, Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales, Montevideo (2015); and Doing and Undergoing, Columbia University, New York (2013). She represented Uruguay in the II and IX Bienal de La Habana, Cuba (1986 and 2007), and in the III Bienal de Lima (2002), and participated in the Bienal del Fin del Mundo, Mar del Plata, Argentina (2014). Tiscornia is Emeritus Professor, State University of New York, College at Old Westbury. She is the author of the book, Vicissitudes of the Visual Imaginary: Between Utopia and Fragmented Identity, published by White Wine Press in collaboration with Distrito Cuatro.

Eric Veit (b. 1986, Napa, California) lives and works in New York. His work has recently been shown at Motel, New York; Boatos Fine Arts, São Paulo; Carl Louie, London, Ontario; Rear Window, New York; Exo Exo, Paris; Parisian Laundry, Montreal; Jack Hanley, New York; SpazioA, Pistoia; Interstate Projects, New York; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco; and Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia.

Table:
Benjamin Reiss
Writing Table, 2018
pine, oak, basswood, MDF, paint, steel
16 x 47 x 23 in (40.6 x 119.4 x 58.4 cm)

Paul Salveson
Untitled, 2018
paper, acrylic, wood, ball bearings
3 1/2 x 5 x 5 in (8.9 x 12.7 x 12.7 cm)

Eric Veit
Sweet Potato Baby Doll, 2019
wood, shellac, plastic, chocolate foil, resin
8 1/2 x 3 x 2 in (21.6 x 7.6 x 5.1 cm)

Eric Veit
Better for Earth, 2019
wood, shellac, plaster, wine foil, resin, plastic, wine, silver
10 1/4 x 36 1/2 x 1 1/2 in (26 x 92.7 x 3.9 cm)

Paul Salveson
Elastic Mask, 2018
paper, jawbreakers, wood
28 1/4 x 25 x 2 in (71.8 x 63.5 x 5.1 cm)

Paul Salveson
Ideal Configuration, 2019
paper, jawbreakers, wood
28 1/4 x 25 x 2 in (71.8 x 63.5 x 5.1 cm)

Ana Tiscornia
It was next to the rug, 2019
acrylic, plaster, digital print, mosaic, wood
11 1/4 x 14 3/4 in (28.6 x 37.5 cm)

Ana Tiscornia
Side by side, 2019
Acrylic, plaster, fabric
12 1/2 x 13 1/2 in (31.8 x 34.3 cm)

Ana Tiscornia
Remaining flowers, 2018
acrylic, plaster, paper, wood
12 x 23 1/2 in (30.5 x 59.7 cm)

Ana Tiscornia
Rug and chair, 2017
digital print on fabric and painted wood
88 x 60 x 8 in (223.5 x 152.4 x 20.3 cm)

Nancy Lupo
CW Two, 2015-2017
Magic-Sculpt, ice trays, barley greens powder, calcium carbonate, acrylic binder, UV sealer, fibered aluminum roof coating
113 × 6 1/2 × 2 in (287 x 16.5 x 5.1 cm)

Nancy Lupo
OV One, 2015-2017
Magic-Sculpt, ice trays, barley greens powder, calcium carbonate, acrylic binder, UV sealer, fibered aluminum roof coating
106 1/2 × 7 × 2 1/2 in (270.3 x 17.8 x 6.4 cm)

Nancy Lupo
REG Two, 2015-2017
Magic-Sculpt, ice trays, barley greens powder, calcium carbonate, acrylic binder, UV sealer, fibered aluminum roof coating
108 × 7 × 2 1/2 in (274.3 x 17.8 x 6.4 cm)

Paul Salveson
Drupe, 2019
paper, jawbreakers, plastic bags, wood

Liliana Porter
The Unravel (green thread), 2019
figurine and thread spool on white shelf
4 x 22 x 5 in (10.2 x 55.9 x 12.7 cm)

William Leavitt
Installation Kit (Molecule), 2009
lithograph
19 x 23 3/4 (48.3 x 60.3 cm)

William Leavitt
Installation Kit (Wall), 2009
lithograph
19 x 23 3/4 (48.3 x 60.3 cm)

William Leavitt
Installation Kit (Lamp), 2009
lithograph
19 x 23 3/4 (48.3 x 60.3 cm)

Eric Veit
Daffodil Tulip Steak, 2018
wood, enamel
17 x 20 1/2 x 1 1/4 in (43.2 x 52.1 x 3.2 cm)

Liliana Porter
Bell House, 2006
digital photograph
image: 13 1/2 x 10 in (34.3 x 25.4 cm)
framed: 17 x 13 1/2 in (43.2 x 34.3 cm)

Milano Chow
Three Columns with Leaning Figure, 2019
graphite, ink, vinyl paint, photo transfer on paper
image: 12 x 9 in (30.48 x 22.86 cm)
framed: 14 3/4 x 11 3/4 (37.5 x 29.8 cm)

Milano Chow
Night Scene with Silhouettes, 2019
graphite, ink, vinyl paint, photo transfer on paper
image: 28 x 15 in (71.1 x 38.1 cm)
framed: 30 3/4 x 17 3/4 (77.1 x 45.1 cm)

Liliana Porter
The Sign, 2018
metal object and figurine
3 x 4 1/4 x 1 1/4 in (7.6 x 10.8 x 3.2 cm)

Paul Salveson
Failed Conversion, 2019
paper, ball bearings, wood
28 3/4 x 22 1/2 x 2 (73 x 57.2 x 5.1 cm)

left to right:

Liliana Porter
The Red Box, 2019
acrylic on vintage book with attached figurine
8 x 5 1/4 x 2 3/4 in (20.3 x 13.3 x 7 cm)

Liliana Porter
The Book, 2018
acrylic on vintage book
7 1/2 x 5 /2 x 1 1/4 in (19.1 x 14 x 3.2 cm)

Press:

Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Editorial Magazine
Art Viewer

Milano Chow, William Leavitt, Nancy Lupo, Liliana Porter, Benjamin Reiss, Paul Salveson, Ana Tiscornia, Eric Veit

The Props assist the House

Aug 3 - Sep 21, 2019

Press: