Greene Contemporary is pleased to present new photographs and video by collaborative artists Robyn Voshardt and Sven Humphrey in Double Bind/Double Blind from Thursday, April 23 through Sunday, May 24, 2009. An opening reception on Wednesday, April 22 from 6 to 9 p.m. will preview the exhibition.... Read more
Greene Contemporary is pleased to present new photographs and video by collaborative artists Robyn Voshardt and Sven Humphrey in Double Bind/Double Blind from Thursday, April 23 through Sunday, May 24, 2009. An opening reception on Wednesday, April 22 from 6 to 9 p.m. will preview the exhibition. This is Voshardt/Humphrey’s first solo exhibition in New York.
Voshardt/Humphrey explore states of being and patterns of thinking – from anxiety and restlessness to motivation and control – on personal, social, and institutional levels. Their wide-ranging inquiry contrasts claustrophobic interiors with outdoor spaces, analog and digital sources, color with black and white, and small to large scale. Though much of their imagery seems uninhabited, appearing like a mise-en-scène minus characters, on closer inspection one finds evidence of human tampering, management and intervention even in views that appear to be straightforward landscapes. Voshardt/Humphrey remain fundamentally concerned with cognitive processes, and the dilemma of holding two opposing viewpoints in one’s mind simultaneously.
Concepts of time are a recurring thread throughout their work. Their video often drastically compresses or stretches real time, while photographs compare overlapping temporal records: from geologic “deep time” to natural and economic cycles, to moments that are fleeting. Still and moving images also exchange roles. Their installation of archetypal stills can be read like a timeline, or seen relationally as a sort of perceptual shorthand within a complex visual syntax. As the impression of an overall gestalt, or as a mind-map of loosely joined thoughts, images resonate as the viewer moves through the space – met by the arresting pause of a fixed-frame video on the opposite wall of the gallery.
Voshardt/Humphrey’s practice extends an open invitation to chance and necessitates constant reinvention, reordering and interpretation rather than comfortably relying on a particular style or theme to fulfill a projected photographic outcome. Their process of seeing is a messy business of manipulating images while keeping a mindful eye on multiple interests – a visual mash-up like life.
Voshardt/Humphrey have worked together since meeting at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Robyn received a BA in Visual & Environmental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, followed by a Studio Diploma, Fifth Year Certificate and Traveling Scholar Award from the SMFA. Sven received his BFA from SMFA/Tufts University. Exhibitions and screenings include V/07 Videoart Fair in Venice, Italy; Arteleku and KM Kulturunea at MID_E in San Sebastían, Spain; Directors Lounge, Berlin; VT2 Vernacular Terrain, Australia; DiVA Streets New York; Love’s Secret Domain at 3rd Ward Brooklyn; Ellen Curlee Gallery, St. Louis; LiveBox, Chicago; Selby Gallery at Ringling School of Art & Design, and Bleu Acier. Their work has been shown in museums throughout Florida and is in the permanent collections of the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Tampa Museum of Art, and Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg. This is their second solo exhibition with Greene Contemporary. Voshardt/Humphrey live and work in New York.
