Elad Lassry

Women (065, 055)

August 2012 – September 2012

Over the course of his career, Elad Lassry has investigated the history and power of images through different mediums, such as photography, film, sculpture, and performance. His small-scale photographs, usually presented in frames that take their color from the main hue of the photograph, are still lifes of mundane objects or portraits depicting individuals and animals from vintage magazines, film archives, or original images shot at Lassry’s studio. Lassry’s photographs are highly staged, intense in their vivid colors, and, at times, puzzling in their visual openness. Removed from their visual context, they question the tradition of photography while investigating – at times ironically – the power of the image and our contemporary engagement with them.

For the High Line, Lassry has created an alluring new image of two young women, both dressed alike, gazing out of two small portholes into a sea of green. Detached from any visual history or context, the image is both mesmerizing and elusive, familiar and remote. It allows the viewers to create their own conceptual space and visual context for the image.

Lassry’s work for High Line Art is presented in advance of his exhibition and performance, Untitled (Presence), at The Kitchen, where the artist is presenting a new 30-minute performance and an exhibition in the institution’s upstairs space. New photographs and a film by Lassry will appear amid a display scheme of apertures related to his performance. Lassry’s exhibition at The Kitchen will be on view Friday, September 7 through Saturday, October 20, 2012; and his performances will take place Thursday, September 13 – through Sunday, September 16, 2012.

Artist bio

Elad Lassry (b.1977, Israel) lives and works in Los Angeles. He has exhibited extensively in major international institutions and renowned galleries worldwide. Recent solo exhibitions include 303 Gallery, New York (2013); Galerie Francesca Pia, Zurich (2013); White Cube, Hong Kong (2012); The Kitchen, New York (2012); PAC – Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan (2012); Kunsthalle Zurich, Zurich (2010); Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2009); and The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago (2008). In 2010, the Contemporary Art Museum of Saint Louis mounted his first major monographic exhibition in the United States, Elad Lassry: Sum of Limited Views. Lassry’s work was also featured in the group exhibitions Chain Reactions, Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami (2013); ILLUMInations, International Pavilion, 54th Venice Biennale, Venice (2011); New Photography 2010, Museum of Modern Art, New York (2010); and At Home/Not at Home: Works from the Collection of Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg, the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York (2010).

Support

High Line Art is presented by Friends of the High Line and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. High Line Art is supported by Vital Projects Fund, Inc., and, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. In-kind support provided by Maharam.

Space for High Line Billboard is donated by ParkFast.com.