Lara Pan Curates Fordproject's Inaugural Exhibition When the Fairy

Lara Pan curates fordPROJECT’s inaugural exhibition When the Fairy Tale Never Ends

(New York, NY) Altpoint Capital Partners, parent company of Ford Models, is pleased to announce that the inaugural exhibition at its new contemporary art space fordPROJECT will be When the Fairy Tale Never Ends curated by Lara Pan. The exhibition will open to the public on January 20, 2011 and will include works by both established and emerging artists including Michaël Aerts, Eleanor Antin, Valentina Battler, carballo-farman, Henry Darger, Wim Delvoye, Braco Dimitrijevic, Eagleton- Enright, Kent Henricksen, Natacha Ivanova, Robert Lazzarini, Panni Malekzadeh, Vincent Olinet, Gretchen Ryan and Kenny Scharf. Pan will take over fordPROJECT’s dual-level penthouse located at 57 W 57 (a historic Warren + Wetmore building) to create a rich environment that explores the concept of fairytale and myth as they merge with the realities of contemporary life. Panni Malekzadeh, Peep Show, oil on linen, 62 x 89 inches.

The title of Pan’s show is derived from overarching themes of beauty, intrinsic value, the transgressive quality of fairytales in contemporary culture and the often unrealistic adolescent expectations for an idyllic life. In exploring these themes Pan highlights that certain archetypes have morphed over time, some in subtle ways and others quite drastically. An example is Eleanor Antin’s The Little Match Girl Ballet, a 26-minute performance piece captured on video in 1975 in which the artist, dressed in a tutu, entertains a captive gallery audience with a monologue explaining her strategy for becoming a famous ballerina. Antin’s performance is the physical manifestation of the sociological pressures that women face in modern western society. In Caraballo- Farman’s video installation Midnight we see Cinderella magically changed from princess to pauper at increasing speeds leaving the viewer to wonder if, like Antin, Cinderella’s transformation is naive fantasy.

Three works in the exhibition draw immediate parallels between the youthful feminine notions of an idyllic life and the harsh realities many women face worldwide. In the aptly titled Girls in A Peril, Gretchen Ryan depicts two young children in frilly pageant costume and make up standing in an apocalyptic landscape with no guardian but a tiny Chihuahua. The image is evocative of little girls performing in pageant competitions but there is also a pedophilic component to these toddlers made up as women especially when we consider the disturbingly direct gaze of the older child. Panni Malekzadeh is more overt in her sexual commentary with Peep Show, a large pastel colored depiction of the interior of a brothel, with the overlay of a neon sign advertising live girls, a reminder of the sordid realities of the sex industry. What is most disturbing in the neon outline is a toddler playing with a doll alongside the advertisement for sexual entertainment. Children’s fantasies feature strongly in Robert Lazzarini’s distorted Nursery Wallpaper. Lazzarini distorts the vintage wallpaper depicting lambs, butterflies and kittens, signifying, according to the artist, that adult life doesn’t always adhere to our youthful expectations.

More lighthearted is Kenny Scharf’s Junglasia a colorful painting that gives the viewer direct access into the artist’s fantastical imagination. The jungle inspired painting is otherworldly and consistent with the surrealist style that Scharf has perfected over the course of his career. The painting generates positive emotional response and harkens back to familiar childhood images of smiling cartoon characters. On the opposite side is Kent Hendricksen’s image of two headed angels and snakes surrounded by images borrowed from Paradise Lost.

Another concept explored in Pan’s exhibition in the concept of value. As our culture becomes increasingly obsessed with material possessions and fame and fantasy shifts from dreams of being a fairytale princess to dreams of becoming a celebrity, many artists working today have documented and commented upon this shift in their work. Michaël Aerts air cargo trunks fashioned into an obelisk underscores the emptiness of contemporary empires. Similarly Eagleton-Enright’s vase contains an answer to a universal question. Engraved on the inside of the vase, the answer is only attainable if the vase is broken – inherently destroying its monetary value. Artist Wim Delvoye describes his tattooed pigs as “living piggy banks” – as the pigs grow and the design changes and expands the investment value of the work also changes. Vincent Olinet’s massive gilded crown Notre époque a la poèsie qu’elle mérite is oversize and garish in every sense, made of brass and semi precious stones its most important feature is its sheer size. The value is not in the materials or what it signifies, making the translation to “our time has poetry it deserves” particularly poignant.

About fordPROJECT / [email protected] fordPROJECT will launch in January 2011 as an exclusive gallery space designed for site specific installations, exhibitions, artist commissions, art collectives, curatorial programs, collaborative initiatives, unique events and more. Under the direction of Rachel Vancelette and Tim Goossens, fordPROJECT will present a unique alternative to the traditional fine art models and will offer innovation for artists, curators, collectors, organizations, institutions and estates.

Lara Pan (b. 1974, Belgrade, Former Yougoslavia) is a independent curator based in Paris and Brussels. She received her BA in Art History from Belgrade University and went on to pursue Philosophy at the Sorbonne University, Paris. In 2005, Lara Pan founded The New Art Project, a curatorial initiative that explores different possibilities in curatorial practices and their evolution with the institutions and collections. Recent international exhibitions include Wim Delvoye’s Torre at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Italy (June 2009) and Pandora’s Sound Box during Performa, New York (2009) and Atmospheres in Montreal, Canada (2010).

Exhibiting Artists:

Michaël Aerts (b.1979). Lives and works in Ghent, Belgium. Media: objects, sculpture, installations and related drawings. He has exhibited extensively in solo and group shows including the US, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands and Germany. Representing galleries: Deweer Gallery, Otegem, Belgium; Federico Luger Gallery, Milan, Italy; Ron Mandos Gallery, Amsterdam.

Eleanor Antin (b.1935). Media: Filmmaker, performance, installation and multimedia. Attended The High School of Music & Art in New York and received a BA in creative writing and art from the City College of New York in 1958. Antin was a central contributor to the conceptual and performance art practice of the 1970s. Representing galleries: Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, MA; Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, NY.

Valentina Battler (b. 1946) is a graduate of the St Petersburg Conservatory and a professional concert pianist and teacher by training. Media: paint, ink on paper. Her aesthetic explores some of the nuanced and complex interactions between painting and music in addition to having been influenced by the linear and expressive character of Chinese scroll painting. Examples of work are held in a range of public and private collections in Paris, Moscow, New York and Shanghai. caraballo-farman (Leonor Caraballo b. 1971 & Abou Farman b. 1966 ). Working in collaboration between New York & Buenos Aires since 2001. Media: video, installation and photography. Awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship (Film and Video) and a Strategic Opportunity Stipend, New York Foundation for the Arts in 2010.

Henry Darger (1892-1973). A self-taught artist, Darger lived and worked in Chicago. Media: drawing, watercolour, collage and mixed media. The range and scope of his work did not come to wider notice until after his death. Representing gallery: Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY.

Wim Delvoye (b.1965, Wervik, Belgium). Lives and works in Gentbrugge, Belgium. Media: sculpture and installation. Has exhibited extensively, including Europe, US, Canada, China, Taiwan and Brazil. Representing galleries: Deweer Gallery, Otegem, Belgium; Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, France & Miami, Florida; Galerie Rodolphe, Brussels, Belgium and Sperone Westwater, New York, NY.

Braco Dimitrijević (b.1948, Sarajevo, Yugoslavia). Lives and works in Paris, France. Media: painting and photography. Graduated Zagreb Academy 1971 and subsequently attended St Martins College of Art & Design, London. Participated in Documenta 1972 and 1977 and the Venice Biennale, 1990 and 1993.

Eagleton – Enright (Alex Eagleton b.1979 Athens, Greece & Brock Enright b.1976 New York City). Media: installation and mixed media. Eagleton attended University of Colorado and graduated from Parsons School of Design in 2004. Enright received a BA in Fine Art from Maryland Institute College of Art and a Masters in Fine Art from Columbia University.

Kent Henricksen (b.1974, New Haven, CT). Lives and works in New York City. Media: mixed media, silkscreen, embroidery and gold leaf. Received a BA in Fine Art and a BA in English Literature from the University of Colorado at Boulder, CO. Representing galleries: Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, NY and Hiromi Yoshii Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.

Natacha Ivanova (b.1975, St Petersburg, Russia). Media: Received a Diploma from I’Ecole des Beaux Arts, B.V.Logansson in affiliation with I’Académie des Beaux Arts of Russia, St.Petersburg, Russia. Awarded the Grand Prix de Peinture de Saint-Grégoire, Saint-Grégoire, France; 1st Prize of Painting: Antoine Marrin, Paris, France. Representing gallery: Cueto Project, New York.

Robert Lazzarini (b.1965). Lives and works in New York. Media: sculpture and installation. Attended Parsons School of Design in 1985 and received a BA in Fine Art from the School of Visual Arts, 1990. Representing galleries: Deitch Projects, New York, NY and Honor Fraser, Los Angeles, CA.

Panni Malekzadeh (b.1984, Los Angeles, CA). Lives and works in New York. Media: oil paintings. Received a Master of Fine Arts from the New York Academy of Art, 2009 and holds a BA in Fine Art from Otis College of Art and Design, 2006. Recipient of The New York Academy of Art 2009- 10 Post-Graduate Fellowship and also the Prince of Whales Fellowship, Residency at the Chateau Bellory, Normandy, France, 2008. Representing gallery: Nucleus, Alhambra, CA.

Paul McCarthy (b.1945, Salt Lake City, UT). Media: performance, sculpture, video and installation. Attended University of Southern California, Los Angeles CA, 1973; San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco CA, 1969; University of Utah, Salt Lake City UT, 1966-8. Representing galleries: Black Cube Gallery, Barcelona, Spain and Hauser & Wirth Gallery, New York, London & Zurich.

Vincent Olinet (b.1981 Lyon, France). Lives and works in Brussels and Singapore. Media: sculpture, mixed media. Attended Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts, Lyon, France, 1999-2005; Rijksakademie, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2006-7; Awards include the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts ‘Prix Pézieux’ 2005 and the sculpture prize Charles Dufraine, ENBA, Lyon, 2004. Representing gallery: Galerie Laurent Godin, Paris, France.

Gretchen Ryan (b.1976, Boulder, CO). Media: painting, drawing, oils and charcoal. She received her BA in Fine Art from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1999 (graduating summa cum laude); awarded BA in Fine Art with Distinction, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA, 2005. Representing gallery: Fred Torres Collaborations, New York, NY.

Kenny Scharf (b.1958 Los Angeles, CA). Medium: painting, sculpture, and performance. He received his BA in Fine Art form the School of Visual Arts in New York, NY in 1980. Scharf began by exhibiting his work at outlets in the East Village – Fun Gallery (1981) and Tony Shafrazi (1984) before contributing to the 1985 Whitney Biennial. Galleries representing: Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, NY and Honor Fraser Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.