PAUL KOPKAU
CRUDE SUITE
SEPTEMBER 14-OCTOBER 19, 2019
OPENING RECEPTION
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 6–9 PM
In 1960, American artist Jasper Johns completes his work Painted Bronze, a bronze sculpture of two cans of Ballantine XXX Ale resting on a rustic plinth. Seemingly identical, in the way that consumer goods are, one “can” is open while the other remains sealed. Johns’ Painted Bronze is not abstraction but representation of signs and symbols. The 50s are over and John F. Kennedy has been elected president of the United States.
Unlike the American Ballantine XXX Ale, the Scottish Ballantine’s line of Blended Scotch whisky could be considered refined. Refined further would be the work of the American ballet choreographer George Balanchine. On November 16, 1960, at the City Center of Music and Drama in New York, Balanchine’s latest ballet Monumentum pro Gesualdo premieres. It features music written by Igor Stravinsky in honor of the 400th birthday of Italian composer Carlo Gesualdo, comprised of a series of suites based on the composer’s expressive vocal mardigals.
In 1983, George Balanchine dies and Dynasty (1981-89) wins the Golden Globe Award for Best TV Drama Series.
Dynasty is a television series initially created by ABC to compete with CBS’s Dallas (1978-1991). Dynasty tells the story of oil tycoon Blake Carrington and his family. Played by John Forsythe, Carrington is particularly cruel and unforgiving in business and with his family. He also enjoys drinking scotch whisky. Dynasty is a soap opera. Soaps are characterized by melodrama and their emphasis on social realist storylines. The genre is especially popular with homemakers, leading television networks to sell advertisements to soap manufacturers.
Historically, cleanliness has been used by some to assert moral superiority in relation to social class. Bubbles are a symbol of cleanliness. Through a bubble’s lens, class can be transcended for a moment. A champagne toast while soaking in the bath of a hotel suite; a temporary reprieve from labor.
What happens when the materials of labor transcend their function? A metal nut composes the music for a suite; a bolt joins a gym; a barrel of oil rests on velvet, while a miniature barrel reclines atop modernist furniture; a mop choreographs a ballet in honor of Carlo Gesualdo’s 400th birthday; a wrench dances in that ballet, and they forgo ale for Scotch whisky; they enjoy melodrama and social realist storylines. They eat brioche and macarons and enjoy exotic fruits year round, taking delight in a world now fully connected via smartphone technology, a world full of things strung together.
Paul Kopkau (b. 1982, Monroe, MI) is an artist living and working in Brooklyn, New York. Solo and two-person shows include Suite (Chateau D’eau, New Haven, CT); Palm Crest and Suites (Company Gallery, New York, NY); and Up All Night (321 Gallery, Brooklyn, NY); Recent group exhibitions include Spirit Chair (Blue Ruin, Copenhagen, DK); Digging for Diamonds in the Disco (Club Rhubarb, New York, NY); Pavillion de L’Esprit Nouveau (Swiss Institute, New York, NY); and Ah Sunflower (three antecedents)..... (David Lewis Gallery, New York, NY). His first outdoor sculpture will be exhibited at Socrates Sculpture Park as part of the 2019 Socrates Fellowship. Crude Suite marks Kopkau’s fourth time exhibiting with 321 Gallery.
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