"Enduring Conundrum" Exhibition
Evartspace Gallery, Geneva, CH
April 30 - June 7, 2014
PRESS RELEASE
“Enduring Conundrum”
Bill Claps
Solo Show
Evartspace Art Gallery, 12 Grand Rue, Geneva
Exhibition Opening 29 April at 18.00
Exhibition from 30 April – 07 June,2014
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, April 10, 2014 Evartspace Art Gallery is pleased to present “Enduring Conundrum”, an exhibition of works by New York artist Bill Claps from his two most recent series “Artspeak” and “It’s all Derivative” , which will be shown from 30 April to 07 June. The exhibition will include an interactive video installation and mixed media works that are executed by combining a number of artistic mediums, including video, photography, painting, drawing and printmaking.
The series "Artspeak", which has inspired a book by the same name, published this spring by Primamusa Editions, investigates the use of language in contemporary art journalism and critique, analyzing the reaction of ordinary people when confronted withthis language, revealing how they respond to contemporary art. The video installation from this series, "Enduring Conundrum",captures individuals from all walks of life repeating phrases taken from press releases of art exhibitions, while gilded mixed media works produced by the artist translate these phrases into Morse code. The works illustrate how words are never quite sufficient to describe a visual artwork.The series “It’s All Derivative” comments on the practice of appropriation and veneration in the world of art, combining borrowed imagery from the past with the visual language of Morse Code.
Curator Flaminia Scauso: “Images, icons and codes inhabit Claps’ studio, where art becomes a kind of cartographic blueprint. Each time he creates a work, Claps produces a metalinguistic message and each encoded element of the message collaborates to define the code itself. Claps interprets his role as a collective translator and asks himself: “Is all derivative?”. And if this is so, then why do we still talk about it?”
Bill Claps’ paintings and drawings have been featured in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and institutions throughout the U.S. and Europe. In the U.S.: Salomon Arts Gallery (New York City), Priska C. Juschka Fine Art (New York City), Henry Gregg Gallery (New York City), Rush Arts Gallery (New York City), Aspen Fine Arts Gallery (Aspen, Colorado), Bendheim Gallery (Greenwich, Connecticut), Kismet Gallery (Westport, Connecticut), and Exhibit Gallery (Tulsa, OK). In Europe he has shown at GalleriaNazionale d'Arte Antica in Palazzo Corsini, Rome and Artgeneve, Geneva. His works are in private collections and foundations in the U.S. and Europe.