Kevin
Beasley / RUBBINGS
December 16 – January 21, 2018
Kim? Contemporary Art Centre
Sporta 2, Rīga, LV-1013
Kim?
Contemporary Art Centre is pleased to present the first European solo
exhibition by American artist Kevin Beasley. For his solo show
Rubbings,
Beasley presents a constellation of objects, instruments and locally
sourced artifacts embedded with microphones. Collecting the sounds of
the space as visitors navigate the installation, the objects disperse
atmospheric reverberations through speakers located in various rooms
within the institution. Distinguishing between and amplifying aural
and visual experiences, the artist establishes a sensory space for
communal reflection.
The
exhibition's title, Rubbings,
draws from the term used for a reproduction, or impression, of an
image or texture created from overlain material such as paper rubbed
with pencil or wax to transmit and relocate the underlying design.
This transference of information is not unlike Beasley's exploration
of a locale’s cultural residue – the resounding effects of a
site's social, economic and geographic history on the temperament of
the present. Incorporating nationalistic patterns and textures found
at a local flea market into his ongoing series of resin sculptures,
Beasley merges, layers, and extracts new meaning through material and
bodily encounters.
Kevin
Beasley (b. 1985, Lynchburg, VA) lives and works in New York.
Beasley’s practice traverses sculpture, photography, sound and
performance. The artist has been the subject of and participated in
exhibitions internationally. In 2018, Beasley is slated to present
solo exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA and
the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. He is represented by
Casey Kaplan in New York.