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OPEN SPACE
Deborah Fisher
New Orleans Elegy, 2006
July 29, 2007 - October 28, 2007Takashi Horisaki
Social Dress New Orleans- 730 days after, 2007
July 29, 2007 - October 28, 2007Michael Mercil
shadows from a dream of the 20th Century, 2003-2006
July 29, 2007 - April 6, 2008Long Island City, NY (July, 2007)— Socrates Sculpture Park is pleased to announce three Open Space projects by artists Deborah Fisher, Takashi Horisaki and Michael Mercil.
Deborah Fisher’s New Orleans Elegy is a living work of art that will change over time in its appearance and meaning. Fisher is interested in the structures the earth makes: how crystals grow; accreation; and the way rocks organize and build themselves. New Orleans Elegy is a map of New Orleans made of steel wire “streets” and a bronze overlay. Over time, the interaction of the metals will cause the streets to decay from the bronze leaving only a trace of where they once were.
Deborah Fisher is a sculptor and published critic whose work focuses on climate change and environmental impact. She is currently working on a large-scale, permanent public sculpture for Middlebury College’s Environmental Studies building. She lives and works in New York.
Takashi Horisaki’s Social Dress New Orleans- 730 days after, came from his deep concern for New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. Horisaki spent his first three years in America living in New Orleans, LA, eventually earning a BFA from Loyola University. His visit to New York in June 2006 made him realize how much those of us living outside of the victimized area fail to grasp the reality of the tragedy suffered by New Orleans residents and the glacially slow recovery process. Conversations with his professor in New Orleans inspired this project. “He told me how difficult it is for him to make his own artwork still, and I wondered if I, a neutral person- not exactly an outsider, but with some perspective on the situation- could express their feelings through my sculpture.”
Takashi Horisaki was born and raised in Japan and now lives in Queens, New York. There will be an additional New Orleans style performance to accompany the event TBA.
For additional information about Takashi Horisaki's work, including images and press coverage of Social Dress New Orleans- 730 days after, visit http://www.takashihorisaki.com/index.html. You can also visit Horisaki's blog, for a detailed account of his process for creating Social Dress New Orleans- 730 days after: http://socialdress-neworleans.blogspot.com/ .
Michael Mercil’s shadows from a dream of the 20th Century, is a set of three carved black stone monoliths. The individual pieces approximate the size of grave markers; stones that mark a beginning of western sculpture. Mercil is not a stone sculptor, but here he uses traditional materials and methods to entertain notions of origin and temporality- of the past, as legacy for the future, and the future already becoming the past. The substance of this work materializes the question: “What is the object of sculpture now?”
Michael Mercil received his M.F.A. from the University of Chicago and lives in Columbus, Ohio where he is Associate Professor and Chair of Graduate Studies in the Department of Art at The Ohio State University.
The three installations are part of the Park’s ongoing series called Open Space, a forum for single artist and collaborative projects that run concurrently with Socrates’ ongoing group exhibitions.
Deborah Fisher’s project is funded, in part, by The Puffin Foundation.
Takashi Horisaki’s project is funded, in part, by New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and by Robert Gensure, in memory of Katrina victims.
Michael Mercil’s project is funded, in part, by New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
This exhibition is made possible by the generosity of Altria Group, Inc., Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Mark di Suvero, JP Morgan Chase, and National Endowment for the Arts.
Special thanks to the City of New York, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Queens Borough President Helen M. Marshall, City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan, Councilmember Eric Gioia, and the Department of Parks & Recreation, Commissioner Adrian Benepe.
For additional information, including images and artist biographies, please contact Ellen Staller at 718.956.1819 ext. 12 or es@socratessculpturepark.org.
(download the press release PDF)
Deborah Fisher
New Orleans Elegy, 2006
Takashi Horisaki
Social Dress New Orleans- 730 days after, 2007
Michael Mercil
shadows from a dream of the 20th Century, 2003-2006
