KOJI RYUI, HUSEYIN SAMI & BRENDAN VAN HEK
’UNLIMITED SUPPORT’
4 MAY – 27 MAY, 2017
Unlimited Support, 2017, Installation shot. Photography by Document Photography.
ID: There is a sculpture of stacked metal frames with white tube lights attached to them. Wires from the lights converge at the bottom of the frame to create a large tangled pile of wires. In front of it, a sculpture made out of metal blinds hangs precariously from the ceiling from a single string.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Unlimited Support was an artist led project that uses the formal qualities of installation, painting and sculptural work to look at what constitutes a support. The three artists employed supports in their work in diverse and distinctive ways, and in this exhibition they explored points of connection and difference in how they think through the potential of engaging with supports.
Unlimited Support, 2017, Installation shot. Photography by Document Photography.
ID: Throughout the space of the gallery, multiple metal blinds are hung from the ceiling, some are broken and bent, others remain intact. In the middle of the space stands a large rectangular frame, on which pieces of material are placed on, in various colours and sizes. The walls are mostly white, with some that have painted borders of bright yellow.
A support is an interesting formal element to consider – it is a component that serves a practical function, that has aesthetic value, and that has played a decisive role in shaping contemporary art practices. If we look at the development of conceptual art, we find the support at the centre of sites of contestation, as evident in the work of Robert Ryman for example, who challenged the physical constructs of the gallery to question the authority of the institution. Similarly Richard Tuttle committed acts of transgression by either disregarding or redefining support structures to again question the institution and expand the understanding of what an artwork could be.
A support can be employed to elevate, steady, frame, re-position and re-propose an object. The support generally acts in aid of the object and traditionally in museum presentations can be viewed as being secondary, even subservient to it. The relationship between the support and the object then is one that can be connected to complex ideas tied to relationships, balance of power, reliance and dependence. Taken outside the context of an art object, this can by association be employed to talk of issues that are personal, psychological, political, emotional, social.
Koji Ryui, Huseyin Sami & Brendan Van Hek are represented by Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney
Unlimited Support, 2017, Installation shot. Photography by Document Photography.
ID: In the middle of the space stands a large rectangular frame, on which pieces of material are placed on, in various colours and sizes. Behind it there is a sculpture of stacked metal frames with white tube lights attached to them. Wires from the lights converge at the bottom of the frame to create a large tangled pile of wires.
Unlimited Support, 2017, Installation shot. Photography by Document Photography.
ID: Close-up of a sculpture made out of metal blinds that hangs from the ceiling of the gallery. The slats of the blinds have been broken and bent in some places, and it is twisted to form the sculpture.
Unlimited Support, 2017, Installation shot. Photography by Document Photography.
ID: There is a sculpture of stacked metal frames with white tube lights attached to them. Wires from the lights converge at the bottom of the frame to create a large tangled pile of wires. In front of it, a sculpture made out of metal blinds hangs from the ceiling of the gallery. It has been bent and broken in some parts.