ART-PREVIEW:James Coleman

The work of James Coleman over the last 40 years has transformed the role of image and sound in visual art, and redefined our relationship with the artworks we see today in museums and galleries around the world. His influence can be seen in a generation of younger international artists, including Steve McQueen, Douglas Gordon, Tino Sehgal, Stan Douglas, and Jeff Wall.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Marian Goodman Gallery Archive

In the early ‘70s James Coleman abandoned painting in favor of film, video, photography and theater. And though he continues to employ these art forms, photography, in the guise of slide projections, has become his preferred format. In his solo exhibition at Marian Goodman Gallery in New York, the artist presents a selection of works from the ‘60s and 70’s to the present day also premiers in the U.S.A. 2 major film installations that have occupied the artist during recent years. “Still Life” (2013-16), presents a large-scale projection of an uprooted poppy against a black background. The flower seems motionless at first, but over time, slight movements in the roots and petals reveal themselves. In the second new work, “Untitled” (2011-15) a loud, insistently repetitive and mechanical soundtrack is heard well before arriving at a monolithic wall of LED screens blazing a film of a spinning amusement park ride. The repetitive spinning, in blurred cuts and recalls a skipping record. The work is based on a film that the artist recorded when studying the rotations of a carousel and the gestures and the screams of the inhabitants of its flying chairs. “Projected Images” is a selection of seminal 16mm films made during Coleman’s two decades working andstudying in Milan. Each film is a single take, often in static shots, meditating on a prosaic subject. The films include “Pheasant”, “Work Apron”, “Clock”, “La Valle della Morte”, “Skull” and “Fly” (all from 1970). A schedule for the films will be available from the gallery. In each work sound and image interface somewhat differently as Coleman explores what has been defined as “The relationship between the identities of the subject and image as they are mutually conditioned or ’caused’ through time”. In the exhibition are also on presentation “Working Arrangemets-horoscopus” (2004) that is comprised of 8 different screen projections simultaneously and “Documenta 11 Project” (1998-2000) that explores the liminal state between what appears recognizable and what is intangible.

Info: Marian Goodman Gallery, 24 West 57 Street, New York, Duration: 17/1-18/2/17, Days & Hours: Mon-Sat 10:00-18:0, www.mariangoodman.com