223-225 West 10th Street – New York, New York
October 23, 2015 – December 04, 2015
Kristin McIver’s Love Piece reads ‘I LOVE, I WANT, I NEED’ in pink neon, enclosed in a clear acrylic box. The artwork, installed on the floor of the vitrine-like space of the West 10th Window, becomes both a sign and a signifier. As such, Love Piece is a semiotic play on the contradictory nature of today’s art market and its slippery relationship with retail commodification.
McIver sampled the text featured in Love Piece from third party comments and reviews of her earlier artworks found on social media. Though the work’s first person voice may reflect the desires of the viewer, it is also a self-referential expression of the internet as an endless feedback loop of aspiration and alienation. Furthermore, Love Piece must always be titled in conjunction with its materials (neon, acrylic, desire), per the artist’s instructions. This refers to the viewer’s engagement as they recognize themselves as the ‘I’ addressed by the message. Through this process of interpellation, the viewer becomes both the subject and the object of the work.
The work also underscores the importance of context and the instrumental will of the artist: though presented here as a sculpture, this work would have radically different implications if found in another space that favors neon, such as a strip club, retail window, or bar. The work is thus imbued with the immaterial, linking it to a rich art historical lineage and a quality that cannot be acquired as a neon fabricator.
McIver has a Master of Fine Arts (Visual Arts) from The University of Melbourne (VCA & MCM). Her work was awarded the Melbourne Sculpture Prize in 2012. Recent exhibitions and achievements include Melbourne Now (National Gallery of Victoria 2013), Vancouver Biennale Residency Program (2015), Art OMI Residency, NY (2013), Status Quo (James Makin Gallery 2013), Data Portraits (Royale Projects: Contemporary Art, CA 2013), ME/ME (Chasm Gallery, NY 2014), Incinerator Art Award (finalist 2014), Keith & Elizabeth Murdoch Fellowship (finalist 2011/13). McIver is represented by James Makin Gallery (VIC, Australia), Liverpool Street Gallery (NSW, Australia) and Royale Projects Contemporary Art (USA). She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
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The West 10th Street Window is curated by Natalie Diaz and Jennie Lamensdorf and is sponsored by the Time Equities Inc. (TEI) Art-in-Buildings Program. TEI is committed to enriching the experience of our properties through the Art-in-Buildings Program, an innovative approach that brings contemporary art by emerging and mid-career artists to non-traditional exhibition spaces in the interest of promoting artists, expanding the audience for art, and creating a more interesting environment for our building occupants, residents, and their guests.
Photos Courtesy the Artist.
Learn more about Kristin McIver’s work on her website!
