Shiny Brings Bling to the Wexner Center This Fall

Visually Dazzling Exhibition Includes Work by Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Josiah McElheny, Rachel Harrison, More

Columbus, OH—The exuberant exhibition Shiny, featuring 13 (literally) shiny works by nine artists, opens this fall at the Wexner Center. Shiny offers a playful and insightful look at the culture’s love of luxury, love of spectacle, and, of course, love of shiny things. Organized by the Wexner Center, it will be on view September 16–December 31, 2006.

Shiny features pieces with reflective, shiny, mirrored, sparkly surfaces, many of them produced in the last five years.Some of the work is made of metal and mirrors, offering the viewers twisted and contorted glimpses of themselves and the galleries. The artists in the show are Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol, Mai-Thu Perret, Kelley Walker, Rachel Harrison, Josiah McElheny (whose chandelier project representing the Big Bang was on view here in the fall of 2005), Louise Lawler (also featured in a concurrent retrospective in two other Wexner Center galleries), Michael Minelli (creating commissioned sculptural pieces for this show), and Jim Hodges (including a new work).

Notes Chief Curator of Exhibitions Helen Molesworth, who curated this show, “Shiny is a look at our culture’s affection for bling and spectacle. Both humorous and critical, this show offers a glimpse into how our expectations are both reflected and refracted in art.” The exhibition also creates a vertiginous experience when set within the Wexner Center’s distinctive architecture. The reflection of the landmark Peter Eisenman building will be doubled and redoubled in the reflective surfaces of the work, extending the exhibition experience from the floors to the rafters.

A few highlights:

• Andy Warhol’s Silver Clouds, a batch of helium-filled floating silver balloons that gently bob and weave with the air currents within the gallery

• Jeff Koons’s Balloon Dog, a 15-by-10-foot blue stainless steel sculpture of a children’s party balloon

• Mai-Thu Perret’s Little Planetary Harmony, a gigantic sculpture of a teapot that’s large enough for gallery-goers to enter and explore the interior, which contains modernist paintings by Perret

• Louise Lawler’s photograph of a Jeff Koons work (tying this show back to the Lawler show in the nearby galleries)

An illustrated brochure will accompany the exhibition.

RELATED EVENTS

Shiny artists Rachel Harrison, Mike Minelli, Josiah McElheny, and Mai-Thu Perret will participate in an artist’s panel moderated by Helen Molesworth as part of the opening event on September 15 (artists’ panel runs 5:30–7 pm, and is followed by the opening celebration, 7–9 pm). Admission is free.

Kai Hammermeister, an Ohio State scholar from the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, will give a talk on October 3 at 1 pm entitled Shiny Boots of Leather: Perversion in Warhol’s Factory, examining the Shiny exhibit and Andy Warhol’s Factory from a theoretical perspective. Admission is free.

THE CURATOR

Helen Molesworth joined the Wexner Center as chief curator of exhibitions in November 2002. She curated the 2005 exhibition Part Object Part Sculpture, which Artforum called “a brilliant success.” Molesworth has also curated the video art exhibition Image Stream and the touring shows Landscape Confection and Work Ethic for the Wexner Center Galleries at The Belmont Building. Prior to joining the Wexner Center, she served as curator of contemporary art at The Baltimore Museum of Art, and her writings have appeared in Art Journal, Frieze, and October.

 

EXHIBITION SUPPORT The exhibition is presented with support from the Corporate Annual Fund of the Wexner Center Foundation. Accommodations are provided by The Blackwell Inn. Reading Room furnishings are courtesy of Design Within Reach.

VISITOR INFORMATION

THE EXHIBITION: Shiny features 13 works with shiny, reflective surfaces by such artists as Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol, Jim Hodges, and Rachel Harrison.

DATES: September 16–December 31, 2006. Also on view: Twice Untitled and Other Pictures (looking back) and Frank Stella 1958.

OPENING: September 15 (7–9 pm). Artists’ panel at 5:30 pm.

LOCATION: Wexner Center for the Arts,1871 North High Street at 15th Avenue at The Ohio State University. Parking in Ohio Union Garage just south.

GALLERY HOURS: Tuesday–Wednesday and Sunday 11 am–6 pm; Thursday–Saturday 11 am–8 pm. The galleries are closed on Monday.

WALK-IN TOURS: Thursdays at 6 pm & Saturdays at 2 pm. ADMISSION: Free