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April 5 to May 17, 2008
In Gallery Two
Dead Center / Marginal Notes:
Peter Downsbrough / Jeanne Silverthornecurated by John Neff | Dead Center/Marginal Notes info
Peter Downsbrough
11' / 2'10"
1970-2008
metal, paint
courtesy of the artistJeanne Silverthorne
Wires with Computer
1997-1998 Rubber
83 ½ x 127 inches (variable)
courtesy of McKee Gallery, New York City
Dead Center / Marginal Notes: Peter Downsbrough / Jeanne Silverthorne is the second in a yearlong series of exhibitions for Western Exhibitions' Plus Gallery curated by John Neff. Each show in the program will present one piece each by two artists or a small selection of works by a single maker. All of the works exhibited will deal – directly or indirectly – with the relationships of centers to margins (culturally, geographically, politically and within works themselves as a formal concern). The second show in the series partners an untitled sculpture by Peter Downsbrough with the 1998 work Wires with Computer by Jeanne Silverthorne.
Jeanne Silverthorne’s twisted network of cast-rubber electrical wiring plays on oppositions between energy / dissipation, image / object, and sculpture / environment. Peter Downsbrough’s exactingly installed, perceptually challenging arrangement of two black pipes is likewise activated by tensions between the graphic and the volumetric and also works to disturb the distinction between the object and its setting. Dead Center / Marginal Notes: Peter Downsbrough / Jeanne Silverthorne juxtaposes these two works – which appear, initially, quite different – to investigate how artisanal and de-skilled, studio-based and post-studio, representational and abstract practices address similar concerns.
Since the 1960s, Peter Downsbrough’s work in installation, print, sculpture and video – among other media – has been exhibited throughout Europe and the United States. Downsbrough’s wide-ranging practice was the subject of a 2003 traveling retrospective organized by the Palais des Beaux-Arts in the artist’s adoptive hometown of Brussels, Belgium.
Jeanne Silverthorne has been exhibiting her work in installation, photography and sculpture nationally and internationally for over twenty years. Her recent projects have included solo presentations at the Butler Gallery in Kilkenny, Ireland and at Seoul’s Gallery Seomi. Additionally, the artist is a widely published critical writer and a noted educator. Silverthorne is represented by McKee Gallery in New York, were she lives and works.
Dead Center / Marginal Notes series curator John Neff lives and works in Chicago. His artwork is represented by Western Exhibitions, where he will be presenting a solo exhibition in May of 2008. Neff's past curatorial projects have included “Hysterical Pastoral” at the Ukrainian Museum of Modern Art and “Cold Conceptualism” at Suitable Gallery, both in Chicago.
ALL IMAGES © WESTERN EXHIBITIONS & EACH INDIVIDUAL ARTIST