For Gareth Long’s interview by Alissa Firth-Eagland published in Canadian Art, Summer 2011
Please download Pdf

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PRESS RELEASE

GARETH LONG
Four stories

09.​06 – 16.​07.​2011
Opening Thursday June 9th. 4pm to 9pm

TORRI is pleased to present Four Stories, the first solo presentation in Paris of the work of New York-based artist Gareth Long.

The exhibition features four works from Long’s Untitled (Stories), a series of nine lenticular prints and a collection of books that reference the work of the late American author J.D. Salinger.
In much of his previous work, Long has explored processes of translation and the cross-transference of artistic forms as a means to question authorship and the mechanisms of cultural and knowledge production. Frequently, these explorations lead to a revised understanding of Modernism as it relates to artistic and literary traditions.

In Untitled (Stories), he focuses on the book cover design that was created by American publishers Little Brown & Co. for Salinger’s books. This discreet design has become iconic in America and instantly brings to mind Salinger’s oeuvre as a writer. Featuring a diagonal rainbow running along the corner of the book’s cover, it is strongly reminiscent of the « stripe motif » that was ubiquitous in Modernist painting at the time when Salinger was writing, particularly in the works of painters such as Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland and Bridget Riley.

In spite of this synonymy, Gareth Long’s interest lies in a disconnection between the covers’ design and Salinger’s oeuvre as a writer. The motif was, in fact, first used on the cover of the books in 1991, long after they were published, and its after-the-fact lucid modernist aesthetic is incongruent with many aspects of Salinger’s style as a writer. For example, Salinger’s sometimes fragmented and meta-fictive narratives, and his introduction of metaphysical themes have been identified as signaling a departure from modernist literary conventions.

It is this misalignment that becomes the basis of Untitled (Stories). While they retain the exact aspect ratio of the books, Long’s large scale prints amplify and distort the design, both drawing out and twisting its references to Modernism, in particular the history of abstract painting, facets of Minimalism and Op Art.
His use of lenticular technology is a key point. In this technique, a number of small lenses produce images with an illusion of depth, or the ability to move as the image is viewed from different angles. Long condenses more than thirty frames of video or animation into a single picture plane; as the viewer walks around the prints, the works animate, shift and slip between images.
Reminiscent of the Cracker Jack prizes that one finds in cereal packets, or kitschy posters for the latest blockbuster movie, the lenticular is not a form that invokes high cultural associations. Rather than employing it as a gimmick, however, Long harnesses its shifting optical effects to conjure the emotional turbulence of Salinger’s stories and to complicating any modernist narratives.
While high Modernism called for autonomy and purity of form, Long’s prints are contiguous and impure objects. They dissolve into movement as soon as we turn our heads and shift between media, suggesting, but never quite conforming to sculpture, painting and the moving image. They also recall the activity of reading. The repetitive movements one makes to activate the frames when viewing the prints are similar to leafing through the pages of a book.

Alongside the prints, the artist displays original copies of the Little Brown & Co published books. On the recto and verso, the cover of each book is erased. Only the iconic stripes remain. With this simple gesture, he underlines the slippage between the exterior’s muted design and the content within.

Gareth Long was born in Toronto, Canada. He holds a BA in Visual Studies and Classical Civilizations from the University of Toronto and an MFA from Yale University. His work has been shown at the Badischer Kunstverein of Karlsruhe, the Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, Mercer Union Centre for Contemporary Art, Toronto, Flat Time House, London,  Wiels, Brussels, Artists Space, New York and MoMA PS1, New York. In 2011 his work will be shown in a number of exhibitions, including ones at Casey Kaplan Gallery, New York and a solo exhibition at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery titled Never Odd Or Even.

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COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE

GARETH LONG
Four stories

09.​06 – 16.​07.​2011
Vernissage jeudi 9 juin 16h-21h

Première exposition personnelle à Paris de l’artiste new-yorkais Gareth Long, Four Stories, fait référence aux nouvelles de J.D Salinger Nine Stories, dont quatre des neuf images lenticulaires de la série Untitled Stories de l’artiste sont présentées ici.

Untitled Stories est une série d’oeuvres créées à partir de la couverture des neufs romans de J.D Salinger publiés par la maison d’édition Little Brown & Co en 1991. Le choix de l’éditeur d’utiliser un logo à rayures diagonales arc-en-ciel traduit la volonté de rappeler l’esthétique moderniste qui prévalait à l’époque des écrits de l’auteur américain.

Les motifs abstraits et géométriques étaient omniprésents dans la peinture d’après guerre notamment dans celle de Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland ou Franck Stella à laquelle fait référence cet ensemble.

En dépit de cette synonymie, l’intérêt de Gareth Long repose sur l’observation du décalage entre le graphisme de l’éditeur et de son contenu littéraire. Alors que les écrits de Salinger sont devenus automatiquement identifiables à la vue des couvertures de Little Brown & Co, l’artiste constate une vraie dichotomie avec son style narratif invoquant des thèmes métaphysiques ou existentialistes qui cherchent justement à s’éloigner de la tradition littéraire moderniste.

L’utilisation de l’imagerie lenticulaire est capitale dans le travail de Long. Par ce procédé, l’image s’anime selon le point de vue du spectateur et révèle sur un seul plan les trente images assemblées par l’artiste.

Alors que le Modernisme prônait l’autonomie et la pureté des formes, les impres- sions lenticulaires de Long sont des objets contagieux et impurs. Elles se dissolvent en mouvement dès que nous tournons la tête et changent de forme, suggérant, mais sans jamais devenir, une sculpture, une peinture, un film. En outre, elles évoquent l’activité de la lecture. Le mouvement répétitif qu’une personne fait pour activer l’oeuvre est effectivement proche du feuilletage d’un livre.

Parallèlement aux images lenticulaires, Long nous invite à consulter les copies ori- ginales des livres de la maison d’édition Little Brown & Co. Sur le recto et le verso de chaque livre, la page de couverture est minutieusement effacée au papier de verre. Seules les rayures arc-en-ciel subsistent. Avec ce geste simple, l’artiste souligne le décalage entre le motif extérieur et le contenu des livres.

Gareth Long est né à Toronto, Canada en 1979. Après une Licence en Arts plastiques et en Histoire des civilisations antiques à l’Université de Toronto et un Master de l’Université de Yale, il devient l’assistant de Liam Gillick. Son travail a été présenté au Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, au Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, à Mercer Union Centre for Contemporary Art à Toronto, Flat Time House de Londres ; au Wiels à Bruxelles, à Artists Space de New York et au MoMA PS1, New York.