Reprise @ Casa Maauad, 15 August 2013

Dancing Circles @ NOSPACE

I'm Working On A Title, Will Send It Later

WhiteHotMagazine Review: I DIDN'T THINK OF ANYTHING I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO

by Emmy Skensved

http://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/2013-theo-michael-preteen-gallery/2742

Theo Michael, I Cancelled The Best (Magnetic Mistakes) 13 & 12, mixed media on paper, 2013. Image courtesy of the artist and Preteen Gallery.

Theo Michael: I DIDN'T THINK OF ANYTHING I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO
Preteen Gallery, Mexico City
January 31st - February 20, 2013 

One of the most striking aspects of Mexico City is its history. It is a place where the present intermingles with the past in a palpable way. Take the center for example, where sixteenth century Spanish palaces were built atop the ruins of the conquered Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, giving rise to the present day archaeological site where the evidence of this history is layered like sediment in the ground.

Greek artist Theo Michael, who moved to the Distrito Federal in 2010, makes work that resonates with the agedness of his new home. His practice consists of mining history and pop culture, unearthing and recycling images and objects and reconfiguring these to produce drawings, collages and vitrines that re-imagine history and question the present order of things. His drawn works and sculptures look convincingly like illustrations and artifacts from the past, and toy with notions of what we think we know. In his collage work, Theo Michael culls images from the extensive collection that he has amassed over the past several years in order to create all-over compositions comprised of tiny cut-outs. Bearing some resemblance to the results of a Google image search, these collages imply an array of complex relationships between seemingly unrelated forms.

For his recent solo exhibition, I didn't think of anything I don't know what to do, Theo Michael punctuated the stark, white space of Preteen Gallery with a series of dog-eared, sepia-tone collages. At first glance these look like pages torn out of old science or geography magazines. It was only after talking with Michael, that I learned that he had crafted these carefully by hand. Subjecting the paper to multiple washes of paint, chemical solutions and other tools he effectively "aged" the prints. Through the veil of this yellowed, worn surface, the images looked deceptively older than they were. In comparison to the hand-cut forms in his other collages however, they had a markedly digital cut-and-paste appearance. Tiled on the page, they overlapped in some areas and formed negative geometric shapes between others, challenging their antique appearance and suggesting that they had been composed on a computer.

Theo Michael, I Cancelled The Best (Magnetic Mistakes) 14, mixed media on paper, 2013.
Image courtesy of the artist and Preteen Gallery.

Despite the amount of information and the delicate surface treatment, the most striking thing about these collages was not what Michael added to them, but what he took away. Unlike the cumulative process used to produce most collage work, the signature characteristics of these pieces were made using a reductive approach. After printing and painting them, Michael removed several of the images, leaving gaping holes in the surface of the paper. Hung unframed in the gallery, these pieces seemed to hover over the walls, the bright white surface visible through the amorphic voids. Slight shadows were also created around the edges of the holes, lending the two dimensional work a sculptural quality.

When considering the themes of history, archeology and systems of categorization that Michael's work suggests, these collages conjure up even more associations than his previous pieces. With the series at Preteen, Michael invites his audience to use their imaginations to fill in the blanks and to forge links between the clues presented. When viewing these pieces, one's eyes cannot help but to jump from one absence to the next, connecting the dots, trying to solve the puzzle. What was there and then removed? This work not only speaks to things erased from a narrative or a history, but also to a story that is yet to be written and gaps that are yet to be filled.

Theo Michael, I Cancelled The Best (Magnetic Mistakes) 09, mixed media on paper, 2013.
Image courtesy of the artist and Preteen Gallery.

Theo Michael, Exhibition view from I didn't think of anything I don't know what to do at Preteen Gallery, Mexico City, 2013.
Image courtesy of the artist and Preteen Gallery.   

THE ETERNAL INTERNET BROTHERHOOD 2013

http://eternalinternetbrotherhood.tumblr.com/

OERTIU598

ARTSHOW

'I DIDN'T THINK OF ANYTHING I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO'

'I DIDN'T THINK OF ANYTHING I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO' THEO MICHAEL JANUARY 31 2013

PRETEEN GALLERY IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE ‘I DIDN’T THINK OF ANYTHING I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO’, A SOLO EXHIBITION BY MEXICO CITY-BASED ARTIST THEO MICHAEL. A. MAGNETIC MISTAKES PHOSPHORIC CROSSWINDS AGAINST IDEAS CONCEPTS TACKY SUBJECTS INTELLECTUAL POVERTY OUTDATED FASHION EMBARRASSMENT AND BILLIONS OF TRILOBITES YETI CRAB PSYCHOANALYSIS NAUTILUS YOUTUBING GOOGLEMAPPING ARTHROPODS. COGNITIVE SUBMARINE: LAWRENCE WEINER SUCKS. ARTHROPOD IN YOUR WATER THE ONLY ANSWER YOU CANT SEE WELL I DON’T KNOW I WILL ACCEPT I ONLY DO THINGS I LEFT TWO QUESTIONS IN THE FRIDGE I DON’T UNDERSTAND AND YOKO ONO SUCKS. THE AFTER PARTY WAS CANCELLED PLANET WITHOUT LANGUAGE A FALSE SEMBLANCE OF THE REAL PLANET WITHOUT PIZZA A RIGHT SEMBLANCE OF THE UNREAL I AM NOT IMPOSSIBLE DIMENSIONS SYNTAX AND PERCEPTION I DON’T THINK OF THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE THEY CANCELLED PHYSICS PARALYMPIC FLAME SPOT THE NANOTUBE. B. I CANCELLED THE BEST CITY IS FULL OF PEOPLE THE FUCK WITH CONSISTENCY IT’S ONE IDEA IT’S NOT CONGRUENT A RIDICULOUS WORLD. IMPOSSIBILITY OF IDEAS INEVITABILITY OF STUPIDITY: ASK A MEMBER OF THE STAFF. RIGHT FAR LEFT EXTREME LEFT EXTREME RIGHT CENTRE EXTREME CENTRIST EXTREME ANARCHIST OR CONSERVATIVE FASCIST OR BOTH OR NONE: EXTREME TOP. THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY, AMPHIPODS TIME, ARTHROPOD TRUTH ARTHROPODS ILLUSION, DELUSION. BILLIONS OF BARNACLES AND TEN THOUSAND TYPHOONS ECTOPLASM (SPOT THE NANOTUBE): EARTH GRAVITY AIRELECTROMAGNETISM WATER WEAK NUCLEAR FORCE FIRE STRONG NUCLEAR FORCE VISUAL UPGRADE JUST RECYCLING SOME JUNK AMPLIFIED. NOTHINGNESS, NOT MUCH JUST A BLOW-UP. INDECISIVE NIHILIST UTTER CONFUSION AND DIGITAL OBESITY. DAWN OF THE SATYR OUT OF THE COFFIN SMOKE MACHINE ASHTRAY; ROCK IN WOODEN STRUCTURE (DAMAGED) ZOMBIE HAND TEXTING (IN GLASS?) THE PLANET OF THE FOOLS NO ONE WILL KNOW FUCK THE INTERNET I’M GOING TO SPACE. - THEO MICHAEL LIVES AND WORKS IN MEXICO CITY. HE HAS EXHIBITED HIS WORK IN MARSEILLE, DÜSSELDORF, ATHENS, NEW YORK, MIAMI, LONDON, TORINO, BANGKOK, MEXICO CITY AND THESSALONIKI. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY: "INTERNATIONAL DRAWING ANNUAL 6", MANIFEST PRESS; "EXHUMING THE HUMAN", MUTE; "PUBLIC SCREEN" CATALOG, CONTEMPORARY ART CENTRE OF THESSALONIKI AND "PART TIME PUNKS", DESTE FOUNDATION.

1:1 @ Steve Turner Contemporary

Jon Rafman. New Age Demanded (Grated Delaunay), 2012. Archival pigment print, 58 x 42 inches

1 : 1
THEO MICHAEL 
JON RAFMAN 
TRAVESS SMALLEY 
KATE STECIW 

January 5 – February 2, 2013
Opening Reception: Saturday, January 5, 6 - 8PM

Steve Turner Contemporary is pleased to present 1:1 featuring new work by Theo Michael, Jon Rafman, Travess Smalley and Kate Steciw, where all of the works were generated through the use of computer technology. Smalley creates clay sculptures that he places on a flatbed scanner to capture their likeness; Rafman uses Mudbox to model three dimensional busts that overlay the patterns of a specific abstract expressionist painting and Steciw and Michael use Photoshop, the former to create abstract digital collages from stock images and the latter to create collages of found internet images from his 150,000 large image archive that he began developing in 1999. In 1:1 each artist's work comes to exist in reality precisely as it appeared on the his or her computer screen. 

Born in Panorama, Greece in 1978, Mexico City-based Theo Michael studied Fine Art at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and Utrecht School of Art and earned an MA in Painting from the Wimbledon School of Art. His work has been included in numerous exhibitions worldwide and he is represented by Galeria OMR, Mexico City. He uses intuition, primitivism and the unconscious to counterbalance the over-intellectualization of contemporary art, with the resulting works highlighting irrationality in form and content. 

Born in 1981, Jon Rafman is a Montreal-based artist, filmmaker and essayist whose work explores the impact of technology on consciousness. He earned a B.A. in Philosophy and Literature from McGill University and an M .F. A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His films and artwork have been exhibited at Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome; New Museum, New York; Palais de Tokyo, Paris and Saatchi Gallery, London. His Nine Eyes of Google Street View has been featured in Modern Painter, Frieze, Der Spiegel, Libération, New York Times and Harper's Magazine. 

Born in 1986, Travess Smalley is a New York-based artist who paints with pixels to produce optically dynamic works that straddle the boundaries of physical and digital image making. In his series Composition in Clay he scans colored modeling clay at high resolution to produce photographic prints that are lush and viscous. Smalley studied painting and digital printmaking at VCU before receiving his BFA from Cooper Union in 2010. His work has been exhibited internationally with recent exhibitions at Drawing Room, London; Foxy Production, New York and House of Electronic Arts, Basel. 

Born in 1978, Kate Steciw is New York-based artist who earned a BA from Smith College and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has had solo exhibitions at Green Room, London and Toomer Labzda, New York with her work included in group exhibitions at Higher Pictures, Horton Gallery, BAMart, Stadium and foxy production. Steciw applies skills learned as a professional retoucher to create abstract digital collages from stock images which are then combined with 3D elements in photo-based sculptural works. Utilizing unseen aspects of the images (keywords, metadata), she links the imagery with objects and embellishments found online to materialize the kind of nonlinear logic native to the online experience. 

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DERRIDA.PDF

http://www.art-agenda.com/shows/derrida-pdf-a-show-by-preteen-gallery-at-hhdm-vienna/

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Footnotes On Candida Hofer

Footnotes on Candida Höfer Artists: Jose Dávila, Candida Höfer, Jorge Méndez Blake, Theo Michael, Daniel Silver, Erwin Wurm Opening Saturday 10th of November, 2012 | 11 - 4 pm Plaza Río de Janeiro 54, Colonia Roma 06700 +52 52071080 info@galeriaomr.com In language, the purpose of a footnote is to support and add reference, which expands on the significance of the text. Like footnotes, the works of Daniel Silver, Theo Michael, Erwin Wurm, Jose Dávila, and Jorge Méndez Blake bring forth a new context and dialogue to the photography of Candida Höfer, shifting her work out of its inherent two-dimensionality thereby permitting its wider meaning to be exposed. Each room acts as its own conversation, highlighting not only the multiple layers – both formal and conceptual – to Höfer´s work, but simultaneously granting us an insight into the preoccupations of Silver, Micahel, Wurm, Dávila, and Méndez Blake´s own works. Candida Höfer´s signature aesthetic, created by her use of formal similarity and emphasis on perspective, often forces us to overlook the strong conceptual practice underpinning her work. The German photographer’s time in Florence capturing the Uffizi shows her fascination with the concept as well as presentation of culturally made objects in space; an artwork within an artwork. Daniel Silver reverses this idea through the selection of his busts, seemingly allowing the artwork to come out of the photograph, thereby extending the perspective created within the picture plane and producing a new sense of spatial awareness to be felt. Theo Michael´s installation of the entirety of his studio as a response to Höfer´s photograph of the Villa Stuck, re-iterates the concept of spatiality, inviting the viewer to actually inhabit and experience a space, in contrast to Höfer, whose method transports the viewer to a place whose physicality can only be imagined. Candida Höfer´s photographs of the storage units in the Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden highlight the ghostlike quality prevalent throughout her work. The large-scale format and subsequent detail – a constant in her practice - allow the colors of the storage boxes to overwhelm the viewer with life, and yet somehow human life is missing. Erwin Wurm´s fountain and Jose Dávila´s sculptures – together an immersive presentation of human limbs – further brings to light this emptiness of human presence within Höfer´s work. Ironically, it is this lack of human presence that finally creates it, exposing the psychology of our social spaces that are otherwise often overlooked, deepening our understanding of how, and therefore who, we are. Jorge Méndez Blake, on the other hand, was drawn to Trinity College Library Dublin V 2004, by Candida Höfer, because of a geographic relation between this and his two works exhibited at the show. Monumento a James Joyce and his in situ mural Sin título (Joyce's Goldenhair) reference the master work of James Joyce, Ulysses, which narrates the passage of the main character Leopold Bloom during a day in the Irish capital, birthplace of the writer and hometown of the Trinity College Library. Through this relation, Méndez Blake focuses on the how of who we are, in terms of the role our culture plays in our formation. For him, the library is simultaneously a storage and disseminator of this culture and his works present the visual results from this dialogue with culture, contrasting with Höfer´s photograph, which is a demonstration of how culture is presented, not formed. Footnotes on Candida Höfer not only grants a wider perspective of Höfer´s work but also adds footnotes to the works of Daniel Silver, Theo Michael, Erwin Wurm, Jose Dávila, and Jorge Méndez Blake. The dialogue between the different media, photography and sculpture engages us to see greater possibilities inherent in each one, allowing for a deepened sense of communication, meaning and understanding to be brought forward overall. No footnotes needed.

SO CONFUSED LOL