LEVIN ART GROUP

Curatorial statement:
Amongst the most elusive and inventive of American artists, Joseph Cornell (1903-1972) worked exclusively in collage and is renowned for his intricate box assemblages. The artist lived with his family in Flushing, New York, devoting his life to caring for his brother Robert, who suffered from cerebral palsy. Although Cornell rarely left New York City, his works, created in isolation, transport viewers to worlds far beyond the mundane realities of his urban, terrestrial life. He often described himself as an ‘armchair voyager’ to earlier eras and countries, the concept of which derives from the venerable tradition of writing travel accounts for the benefit of future generations. Cornell was a compulsive and passionate collector who would gather his impressions of the ‘light of other days’ from postage stamps, old photographs, Victorian engravings and nineteenth century traveller guidebooks and memoirs. A pioneering preservationist, Cornell would then catalogue every item in his basement studio or, as he called it, his ‘laboratory,' delicately placing these nostalgic elements into richly decorative wood boxes, creating a poetic theatre of memory. Cornell’s interest in the ordinary and fleeting was so elevated that he named it the ‘métaphysique d’éphemera’ suggesting that literal things can create an elaborate and subtle form of magic. "Untitled (Grand Hotel)" c.1950, perfectly encapsulates Cornell’s idea of an armchair voyager. The hotel series, initiated in 1950, reflects Cornell’s impressions of Europe’s grand old buildings. The old-fashioned, peeling paper interior reinforces the nineteenth century atmosphere associated with such an establishment, heightening the sense that the object belongs to another time and culture.

Since an early age, Cornell was fascinated with the Romantic ballet which saw an international revival in the 1930s, providing him with the fantasy and escape that he so eagerly sought in his own life. The Romantic ballet celebrated the ideal of female beauty and marking the rise of the ballerina as the central spectacle. Captivated by the renowned ballerinas of the time, Cornell would collect delicate memorabilia associated with Marie Taglioni and her modern counterpart, Tamara Toumanova, who both featured in numerous issues of Dance Index magazine to which Cornell contributed cover designs. The artist’s deep appreciation for the ballet is captured in his collage "Homage To The Romantic Ballet" (c. 1960).

Both artists’ frame of reference extends to the presentation of their works and the surrounding environment in which they are encountered. For this exhibition, the artworks will be showcased within the midnight blue gallery walls, used by the both artist in their artworks and/or installations to create impressions of the sky and which they both believe to evoke contemplation of the celestial. In addition to the painted walls and, characteristic of Kilimnik’s and Cornell's theatrical installations, the gallery will be transformed into an aesthetic context which alludes to the salon era of the nineteenth century, enabling the viewer to palpably enter into a dialogue with the past.

Karen Kilimnik was born in Philadelphia where she lives and works. Recent retrospective exhibitions include "Intervention: Karen Kilimnik" at the Belvedere in Vienna; "Karen Kilimnik at the Institute of Contemporary Art," Philadelphia, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami and MoCA Chicago; and a retrospective the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris which travelled to the Serpentine Gallery, London.

Joseph Cornell (1903-1972) was born in Nyack, New York. Recent exhibitions include ‘Museums in Miniature: works by Marcel Duchamp and Joseph Cornell’ at the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego. In addition, a large retrospective of Cornell’s work "Joseph Cornell: Navigating the Imagination" started at the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, and then travelled to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.

I would also like to deeply thank and acknowledge The Royal Ballet School, White Lodge Museum and Ballet Resource Centre, Richmond Park, Richmond, Surrey for their kind collaboration regarding loans for this exhibition.

- Todd Levin, June 2010