NATHAN DANILOWICZ

21 August - 20 September 2008
Private View(s):
21 Aug. 6-8PM in LONDON
23 Aug. 6-8PM in LOS ANGELES

CRISP LONDON LOS ANGELES presents new work by L.A. based Nathan Danilowicz. Amsterdam Quaternities (London) and All Internal (Los Angeles) are exhibited concurrently in either city, overlapping concepts and aesthetics.

Amsterdam Quaternities celebrates the completion of 1000 intimate geometric ink drawings all by the same name starting in 2002. The exhibition includes a multitude of 3” x 3” drawings, made intuitively as a daily ritual. The black lines on white paper are delicate and flawless, partial to a lithograph or an etching. They explore the balance or imbalance between symmetry and asymmetry, whether it be reflective or rotational, originating in a dream of a shifting geometric shape. The drawings transcend from the initial dream into parallels between Jungian theory and the idea of the “Quaternity” which underscore their spiritual qualities. “Amsterdam Quaternities” is in the context of Chaos Magic–an individualized and fluid form of neoshamanism. The most recent drawings, starting with #901, were made to be sigils—symbols of magic created to enact change. A triptych of color photographs accompany the display as performative documents of the interaction with Death in Amsterdam.

All Internal features work which articulates Danilowicz’s admitted hypocritical dilemma and an increasingly introspective practice. Personal experiences are recounted via image, text and video appropriated from or generated by the internet. For this exhibition, light-jet prints are mounted on anodized aluminum in shapes similar to sigils; communicating ethical dichotomies or paradoxical experiences while under the influence of psychoactive substances. Minimal and slightly horror vacui, they read like fables or parables while following in the tradition of classical genre painting: still life, landscape, portraiture; evoking addiction, surgery and intercourse. Two new video works are featured in the east gallery’s Video Library alongside the exhibition. Suicide Note is generated by an online interface. It creates a humorous and frighteningly sincere suicide note, equivocal to whom the sender is. With communication becoming more like entertainment, a serious message can no longer be taken seriously when considering the influx of media, electronic gadgets and prescription drugs. (d)Effective Download further distracts the viewer, made of downloaded pornography—muddled with artifacts—distorted as a result of encoding or compression. The effect is that of sexuality and flesh morphing together and pulling apart, becoming lost and confused in an orgy of digital obfuscation.

CLICK HERE for exhibition(s) catalogue

CLICK HERE for CLL_AmsterdamQuaternities_press1

Nathan Danilowicz received his MFA in New Genres from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2007. Group exhibitions include the Santa Monica Museum of Art, Cirrus Gallery, Telic Arts Exchange, Raid Projects all in Los Angeles, Locust Projects in Miami, and Black Pussy with Jason Rhoades. He is a contributing writer for ArtUS magazine.

LONDON: