Beth Campbell, Ann Craven, Wayne Gonzales, Joanne Greenbaum, Terry Haggerty, Christian Marclay, John Tremblay

"YOU SAID HE SAID SHE SAID" is a group show of New York based artists whose work to date spans various medium and who have enjoyed exploring space, senses, sensitivity and scenarios. The works selected for this show enjoy a common thread of lines, shapes and declinations thereof, weaving a combined presence and special depth as well as juxtaposition of repetition and consequence.

Beth Campbell (US, 1971) has been working with the concepts of trompe l'oeil deception, repetition and map minding. She has expanded her biographically based stream of consciousness drawings to a third dimension by creating mobiles which have their own language, strength and character structure. Her installations at the Whitney Museum of Art, New York (2007) and Manifesta 7 (2008) explore our sense of perception, respectively questioning thereof when faced with the reality of repeated exact replication of space. What is the truth and which path should I take?

Ann Craven (US) is adept at repeating common imagery taken from nature with exquisite detail on an immaculate background, in a palette so accurate that in modern America the pastel colors are associated with kitsch objects or sugar frosting and dark colors of Edgar Allan Poe's poetry. She only allows the texture of the surface brushstrokes to be seen. Her line repeating paintings use the same palette as that in her moon paintings, bird, pine tree or deer series. Depending on time of year, weather or other circumstances the same subject will appear differently. By repeatedly observing this same subject we perceive it differently. Her relentlessly attentive contemplation and re-presentation gives them another meaning and enables us to reflect on them or their striped abstraction.

Wayne Gonzales (US, 1957) is keenly interested in perception, representation, motion and situations, especially when involving political, social or sports events. His masterful rendition of hues and layers enable us to sense the mood of the event without knowing the specifics thereof. His use of historical photographs as reference is fully masked over but the essence of human behavior and emotion is clearly palpable. His paintings transport us to the midst of the scene as we try to discern what is said.

Obsession and experimentation are part of the structured life and work of Joanne Greenbaum (US, 1953). She creates structures and leads us into a maze of wonder and journey into planes of her own imagination. Although we are lost, no effort to look for a compass is needed as her paintings provide comfort, sense of wholeness and space. These small canvases were made during her stay in Düsseldorf and under the influences of a prolonged European stay due to her exhibits at Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich and Museum Abteiberg, Monchengladbach, Germany.

Terry Haggerty (UK, 1970) creates spaces, distances, proximity and stability with infinite detail. Precise and clean-cut lines on meticulously prepared surfaces invite us into his curves yet the pristine white keeps us in respectful awed distance and prevents us from trespassing his work. His manipulation of geometrical proportions is soft and balanced by the colors chosen in these abstract compositions that contain a clear understanding of volume.

For this show, we commissioned Terry Haggerty to make an on site installation, "Under Pressure", which will cover the entire glass window of the gallery.

Christian Marclay's (CH & US, 1955) interest in sound and music has infiltrated his life, studies and work. Born in California, raised in Switzerland and the United States, he has studied in both countries and represented Switzerland at the 1995 Venice Biennale in Chiesa San Staë. He enables us to look at and think about sound - all kinds of sounds - through his two and three dimensional presentation of sound carriers: records, tape, intercom, telephony, words and our own vocal mechanisms. His deep understanding of depth and the photographic process trigger a dialogue and conversation between the visual and audible senses.

John Tremblay (US, 1966) creates colorful environments full of shapes and colors and assigns titles to paintings which are unique and often based on current events or related to movies. His paintings are an extension of his persona: amenable, funny, artistically and politically researched and referenced to those he admires and whose oeuvre he has researched in order to comprehend. Although not part of the op- art movement, he has clearly comprehended their technique and incorporated part of it in his own style and selection of materials.

at the Opening of YOU SAID HE SAID SHE SAID, Zurich

28 August 2008
Barbara Seiler with US Artist Terry Haggerty and Anne Mosseri-Marlio
in front of "Under Pressure"
Photo: likeyou - the artnetwork
© Centrik Isler

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