A Weekly Artwork Selection
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Spotlight: A Weekly Artwork Selection

Jac Leirner, Blossom, 2017

Photo © Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd
Jac Leirner
Blossom, 2017
22 spirit levels
130 x 67 x 63 cm (51 1/8 x 26 3/8 x 24 3/4 in)
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Jac Leirner's Blossom presents at first sight as a bright geometric work, its 22 short levels extending out from the corner, eleven parts on each side, alternating to the left and the right—at the top is the thinest level of all and at the bottom, the thickest.

Counter-intuitively, the title bestows an organic quality to the arrangement of horizontal levels. The accumulation of tools has a subtly effect of undermining their function. At the same time, their original purpose of these ready-made objects is also a profound one: “leveling,” and, metaphorically speaking, giving orientation.
Photo © Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd
In Jac Leirner’s experience the legacy of the performative and political aspects present in Latin American geometric abstraction and that of the experiential and abstract study of color, form, texture, and materials characteristic of Bauhaus teachings combine to create precisely conceived and profoundly felt works.

Leirner finds beauty in everyday objects, which she subjects to a formal rigorous aesthetic. At the same time, her works mine these objects for poignant meanings. Sensitive to objects and their materials, the artist finds visual forms that bespeak a certain obsessional quality but never tip over into the chaos of obsession.
Photo © Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd
"In silent ways materials tell their stories. They reverberate processes in different stages. They belong to networks and systems where they assume new positions, including, finally, that of an artwork placed in a museum. In the end, what I do in all the works is to create a place for things that don’t have one…"

—Jac Leirner, 2011
Photo © Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd
Levels appeared first in Leirner's work around 2003 as supports for found materials and collages, comparable to the side of a stretcher or shelf. The artist first began assembling larger numbers of store-bought materials, such as levels or rulers, during her artist in residency at the Yale School of Art in 2012.
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Jac Leirner was born in 1961 in Sao Paulo, where she lives and works. In 1984, she received her BFA in Fine Arts from the Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado, in Sao Paulo. <br><br>The artist was awarded numerous grants and residencies, among them: 2012 APCA Award: Best Exhibition of the Year – Estação Pinacoteca, Sao Paulo; 2012 artist in residency at the Yale UniversitySchool of Art; 2001 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship; 1998 visiting artist at the Ryjksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam; 1991 visiting artist at the University College, Oxford; 1991 visiting artist at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Arts, University of Oxford; 1991 artist in residency at the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford, and the 1991 artist in residency at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.<br><br>Selected solo exhibitions include: <b>Wolfgang Hahn Prize</b>, Museum Ludwig, Cologne (2019); <b>Add It Up</b>, The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh (2017); <b>Institutional Ghost</b>, IMMA Dublin (2017); <b>Borders are Drawn by Hand</b>, MoCa Pavilion, Shanghai (2016); <b>Jac Leirner. Functions of a variable</b>, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2014); <b>Estação</b>, Pinacoteca São Paulo, Sao Paulo (2011); <b>Adhesive 44</b>, Miami Art Museum, Miami (2004); <b>Projeto Parede</b>, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Sao Paulo (1999); <b>Directions</b>, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C. (1992), and <b>Viewpoints</b>, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (1991)<br>

Jac Leirner was born in 1961 in Sao Paulo, where she lives and works. In 1984, she received her BFA in Fine Arts from the Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado, in Sao Paulo.

The artist was awarded numerous grants and residencies, among them: 2012 APCA Award: Best Exhibition of the Year – Estação Pinacoteca, Sao Paulo; 2012 artist in residency at the Yale UniversitySchool of Art; 2001 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship; 1998 visiting artist at the Ryjksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam; 1991 visiting artist at the University College, Oxford; 1991 visiting artist at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Arts, University of Oxford; 1991 artist in residency at the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford, and the 1991 artist in residency at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.

Selected solo exhibitions include: Wolfgang Hahn Prize, Museum Ludwig, Cologne (2019); Add It Up, The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh (2017); Institutional Ghost, IMMA Dublin (2017); Borders are Drawn by Hand, MoCa Pavilion, Shanghai (2016); Jac Leirner. Functions of a variable, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2014); Estação, Pinacoteca São Paulo, Sao Paulo (2011); Adhesive 44, Miami Art Museum, Miami (2004); Projeto Parede, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Sao Paulo (1999); Directions, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C. (1992), and Viewpoints, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (1991)


Photo © Frank Schoepgens
 

Interview – Jac Leirner for

The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh

Exhibition film: Jac Leirner, Add It Up at The Fruitmarket Gallery. © The Fruitmarket Gallery, 2017
WATCH NOW – Jac Leirner presented her first solo exhibition in Scotland, UK combining work from major collections with work made especially for The Fruitmarket Gallery.
 

Now Open – Art Basel Hong Kong

Booth view: Art Basel Hong Kong 2021. From left: Jac Leirner, Martin Boyce, Thomas Demand
Photo © Kitmin Lee
Art Basel Hong Kong and Art Basel Live: Hong Kong
Booth 1C14
Hong Kong Convention And Exhibition Centre
1 Harbour Rd
Wan Chai
Hong Kong
May 21 – 23, 2021
Preview days: May 19 – 20, 2021
www.artbasel.com

With works by Martin Boyce, Thomas Demand and Jac Leirner.

If you cannot visit us in Hong Kong, explore our online presentation here: Online Viewing Room: Art Basel Live: Hong Kong (May 19 – 30).

If you wish to receive a preview dossier, or should you have any questions about our presentation at Art Basel Hong Kong, please contact Jonas Kriszeleit: kriszeleit@estherschipper.com
 

Reading Corner

Jac Leirner<br>

Jac Leirner

Wolfgang Hahn Prize 2019
2019
Publisher: Walther König
Languages: English, German

Available here

Jac Leirner<br><b>Add It Up</b><br>2017<br>

Jac Leirner
Add It Up
2017

Publisher: Fruitmarket Gallery
Language: English

Available here

Jac Leirner<br>

Jac Leirner

Hardware Silk
2012
Publisher: Yale School of Art
Language: English

Available here

Jac Leirner <br>

Jac Leirner

in conversation with Adele Nelson
2011
Publisher: Fundación Cisneros/Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros
Languages: English, Spanish

Available here

 
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