- Anat Ebgi
Under the Influence juxtaposes historical videos with newer works, but the focus is not caught up in linear time, rather in the space of the process. In other words, the exhibition does not aim to track a historical development, but to identify precedents for the particular mix of instruction-based art making amongst close acquaintances or intimates that characterizes the more recent art in the show, and the spaces and contexts within which these works are set. Both the older and newer works lead one to wonder who is directing whom?
John Baldessari uses his student Ed Henderson to make the video Ed Henderson Suggests Sound Tracks for Photographs, asking Henderson to find soundtracks for photographs the artist selects and describes verbally.
In Swamp, Robert Smithson directs his wife, Nancy Holt, through the unstable terrain of the New Jersey Meadowlands as Holt records with a camera, and Smithson with a sound recorder. Joan Jonas collaborates with dancer friends on her film Wind (shot and edited by Peter Campus) on a blustery beach in the dead of winter in Long Island.
THE ARTISTS
John Baldessari
John Baldessari uses his student Ed Henderson to make the video Ed Henderson Suggests Sound Tracks for Photographs, asking Henderson to find soundtracks for photographs the artist selects and describes verbally. In Swamp, Robert Smithson directs his wife, Nancy Holt, through the unstable terrain of the New Jersey Meadowlands as Holt records with a camera, and Smithson with a sound recorder. Joan Jonas collaborates with dancer friends on her film Wind (shot and edited by Peter Campus) on a blustery beach in the dead of winter in Long Island.
Jen DeNike
DeNike, Jen, b. 1971 in Norwalk, Connecticut. Received her BFA in 1995 from the Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia and her MFA from Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts, Bard College in 2002 and completed a Master Class with Stephen Shore, Bard College in 2001. Represented by Smith-Stewart Gallery. Solo exhibitions include Smith-Stewart, Site Gallery in Sheffield, England; Tensta Konsthall in Spanga, Sweden; KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany; New Center for Contemporary Art, Louisville, Kentucky and Oliver Kamm Gallery, NY. Jen’s work is included in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York and Julia Stoschek Sammlung Collection, Dusseldorf, Germany. Selected bibliography: the Village Voice, Art Papers, New York Times, Art Review, and The Guardian. Lives and works in New York.
Nancy Holt
Holt, Nancy, b. 1938 in Worcester, Massachusetts. Received her BS in Biology, Tufts University, Medford, Mass., 1960. Selected exhibitions include: The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; John Weber Gallery, New York; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Dia Center for the Arts, New York; P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City. In the late 1960’s and 70’s Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson collaborated on film and video works. Lives and works in Galisteo, New Mexico.
Joan Jonas
Jonas, Joan, b. 1936 in New York. Received her BA in Art History and Sculpture from Mount Holyoke College, Mass in 1958; and MFA from Columbia University in 1965. Selected solo exhibitions and performances include: Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; San Francisco Museum of Art, the University Art Museum, Berkeley. Lives and works in New York.
Jill Magid
Magid, Jill, b. 1973. Education: Received a BFA in sculpture at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 1995 and MS in Visual Studies from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 2000. From 2001-2002, in residency at Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, Netherlands, and from 2006-2007 was in residency at Eyebeam, New York. Selected solo exhibitions: Den Hague, Netherlands; Gagosian Gallery, New York; Centre d’Arte Santa Monica, Barcelona; Sparwasser, Berlin, Germany; Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amesterdam. Select group exhibitions: Artists Space, New York; Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem; Axiom Gallery, Boston; Alona Kagan Gallery, New York; Krannert Art Museum, Illinois; Liverpool Biennial, UK. Selected talks: Pratt Institute Visual Arts Department, Brooklyn; New York Studio Program, New York; Parsons, New York; De Appel Lecture Series, Amsterdam; University of Amsterdam. Lives and works in New York and Amsterdam.
Rachel Mason
Mason, Rachel, b. 1978 in Los Angeles, CA. Received a BA at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2001 and MFA in sculpture from Yale University, New Haven, CT in 2004. Selected group exhibitions: Newman-Popiashvili Gallery, New York; Sabina Lee Gallery, Los Angeles; Show Cave, Los Angeles; The Henry Art Gallery, Seattle; High Energy Constructs Gallery, Los Angeles; Canada Gallery, New York; Sing Sing Prison Auditorium, Ossining, New York, and Jessica Murray Projects, New York. Selected bibliography: Art News, Village Voice, The Art Newspaper, New York Times, Artforum, Los Angeles Times, and Topic Magazine. Lives and works in New York.
Michele O'Marah
O’Marah, Michele, Received BFA from Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA. Solo Exhibitions: Sister Gallery, Los Angeles; Mary Goldman Gallery, Los Angeles; Goldman Tevis, Tel-Aviv, Israel. Selected group exhibitions: Maine College of Art, Portland, Maine; White Columns, New York; Art In General, New York. Screenings of Valley Girl at the New York Underground Film Festival, received Festival Choice Award, 2006 and Mixture Contemporary in Houston TX, 2003. Public Collections include: Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Selected bibliography: Artreview; Art Papers; artforum.com; Index Magazine; frieze; Flash Art; Artforum. Lives and works in Los Angeles, California.
Robert Smithson
Smithson, Robert, b. 1938 in Passaic, New Jersey, d. 1973. Selected exhibitions include: Dwan Gallery, New York; Ace Gallery, Los Angeles and Vancouver; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; James Cohan Gallery, New York; Holly Solomon Gallery, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Estate represented by James Cohan Gallery, York.
Under the Influence was organized by Anat Ebgi as part of the requirements for the master of arts degree in curatorial studies.
CCS Bard student-curated exhibitions are made possible with support from the Rebecca and Martin Eisenberg Student Exhibition Fund, Mitzi and Warren Eisenberg, and the Patrons, Supporters, and Friends of the Center for Curatorial Studies. Special thanks to The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation.
