Bhakti Baxter
After Certain Amounts of Breath
January 9 – February 14, 2009
Opening: Friday, January 9th, 2009
BravinLee programs is pleased to present After Certain Amounts of Breath, Bhakti Baxter’s first one-person exhibition in New York.
Baxter has had one person exhibitions at Emmanuel Perrotin in Paris, MoCA Miami and Fred Snitzer Gallery in Miami.
After Certain Amounts of Breath reflects Baxter’s strong interest in confronting the constructions of our daily existence and mortality in the face of other potential realities. Experiences of human relationships could dramatically shift through awareness of other possible interactions. Fears of death could disintegrate in the light of fully embracing our temporality.
After Certain Amounts of Breath is conceived in a sequence. As you enter the gallery you are confronted with a partially demolished wall. The wall, a fragile structure that correlates to the figures within the work that is to follow. We encounter parallel walls with vertical drawings arranged in two triptychs, one on either wall, loosely referring to paintings in church alter pieces. They explore death and disintegration into a state of pure energy. The source material for this wide spread image is an archeological finding in northern Italy Baxter came across in a newspaper in 2007, suggesting that the young deceased were lovers buried together about 5,000 or 6,000 years ago. This was during the Neolithic period, a time characterized by the onset of religious sentimentality. Several archeologists put forth views describing Neolithic societies geared towards matriarchal worship as well as indications of early Gaia mythology.
Secondly, the room in the back is a space created as a sort of lounge for thought. Baxter amplifies Josef Albers "Homage to The Square" in two parallel murals. The space contains two Eames chairs. Light, space and time shift drastically from the preceding gallery, creating an "in-between" space for contemplation before returning to exit the gallery. The combination of these parts allows for a new dimension for us to enter a space within ourselves.
Upon exiting the gallery one encounters a work that reads almost exactly as the work, untitled (Perfect Lovers) (1987-90) by Felix Gonzalez-Torres. For Baxter’s interpretation titled "Perfect Love" (2008), the hands are removed from the two clocks and the only thing left is the circular center, which continues to turn imperceptibly. Repeating the physical process of an axis with revolutions (centrifugal force), the clocks are set to a time that is always now.
Images/ further information: info@bravinlee.com
Upcoming
Nina Bovasso
If I Should Die Before I Wake
February 20 – March 21, 2009
Mequitta Ahuja
April, 2009
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