Artist: Nancy Lupo
Exhibition title: Parent and Parroting
Venue: Swiss Institute, New York, US
Date: March 13 – April 9, 2016
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Swiss Institute, New York
Swiss Institute is pleased to present the first institutional solo exhibition in the United States of LA-based artist Nancy Lupo, who will present a new sculpture.
Lupo has created a loose structure from 28 racks meant for under-sink bathroom storage, which she configured into a “U” shape where the 28 racks stand in for teeth in a closed human jaw. The racks have been encased in Magic-Sculpt and kitty litter, confusing the already ambiguous form of the shelf – at once decidedly overdetermined and utterly abstract. Across these racks, a drama of objects takes place in several acts that evolve from moments of ontological confusion and language play.
So this mouth, this orange grove, this shrub or bush or whatever that began at the very start of the catchall “holiday” season (also coincidentally citrus season), now feels in the post-Valentines world more like a cramped bodega or some kind of storage. That place where, when you go to grab your stress relieving herbal tea, you bump up against a cache of chocolate mints stockpiled for the reception desk. It might seem like a coincidence but of course these things are carefully coordinated, orchestrated, scripted. Meanwhile, it seems to have now all metabolized literally and elegantly into a classic potpourri. Perhaps it was there the whole time, but I’m really smelling it now.
Nancy Lupo: Parent and Parroting is the sixth exhibition in the ONE FOR ALL series at SI. Building on Swiss Institute’s long history of providing a platform for emerging artists, each show will be the artist’s first institutional solo exhibition in the United States, with a newly commissioned body of work specifically created for the exhibition space. Swiss Institute is grateful for support from the VIA Art Fund, Presenting Sponsor of the ONE FOR ALL series.
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Nancy Lupo (b. 1983, Flagstaff, AZ) is an artist living and working in Los Angeles. Recent exhibitions include: The Third Badger, 1857, Oslo, Norway (2015); Not S.A.D., Wallspace, New York, NY (2015); Taster’s Choice – curated by Christopher Y. Lew, MOMA PS1, New York, NY (2014) and Old Zoo Food, LA><ART, Los Angeles, CA (2014).
