British Weathervanes

British Weathervanes
ISBN-10
0692002189
ISBN-13
9780692002186
Category
Art
Pages
48
Language
English
Published
2011-02
Publisher
Christine Burgin Gallery
Author
Rodney Graham

Description

A new work by Vancouver conceptualist Rodney Graham (born 1949) is always guaranteed to surprise and amuse in equal measure. Indeed, the idea of amusement, espoused by Duchamp as an aesthetic aspiration, is expanded by Graham in British Weathervanesto include the idea of folly, as espoused by the sixteenth-century humanist scholar Erasmus, author of The Praise of Folly(1511). Graham's Erasmus weathervane, made for the cupola of the Whitechapel Gallery in London, shows the author, modeled by the artist, reading a book while riding a horse backwards (elaborating on the anecdote that Erasmus wrote The Praise of Folly on horseback). Erasmus' weather-blown obliviousness continues Graham's inquiry into involuntary journeys and cyclical and backward motion. This beautifully produced artist's book derives its design from the 1940s series Britain in Picturesand contains photographs, drawings and essays on the project alongside a letter by Erasmus.

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