RODEO London

January 13 – February 17, 2018

ROBERT OVERBY / IAN LAW

Ian Law and Robert Overby

Andrew Kreps Gallery and Rodeo are pleased to announce their participation in Condo, a collaborative exhibition by 46 galleries across 17 London spaces. For the exhibition, Rodeo will present works by Ian Law (UK, b 1984) alongside Andrew Kreps Gallery’s presentation of historical works by Robert Overby, (American, 1935 – 1993). Throughout their work, both artists share an interest in the memories embedded within material and place, as well as the act of repetition.

Included in the exhibition are works from Robert Overby’s series of Canvas Maps, dating from 1972. A counterpart to his latex works, the Maps are constructed from pieces of raw cotton canvas carefully sewn together to make trace the architectural elements of his latex casts. These monochromatic pieces constitute a meditative counterbalance to the more dramatic latex casts: the slowness of the sewing, in fact, implies a completely different perception of time, compared to the immediacy of the latex works.

Overby’s Princess Restoration c. 1850 anon, as well as a selection of works from his R.R.O.S.E. series demonstrate the artist’s investigation of authorship and originality. For Princess Restoration c. 1850 anon, Overby restored a found old masters copy, experimenting with different techniques of cleaning, filling, and inpainting. This work, as well as the series it belongs to expands Overby’s exploration of painting as a “skin” that records the passage of time. Overby’s R.R.O.S.E. prints, and WAXY LADIES belong to a body of work executed between 1973-1975 based on his own work Durer Head on Fake Wood Panel (1973), which in itself is an altered copy of an isolated detail from Albrecht Dürer’s 1506 painting, Madonna with the Siskin. In both, the repeated image Overby demonstrates a concentration on the material nature of images, emphasizing the process of progressive deterioration that is inherent in the device of repetition.

A new body of work by Ian Law reflects on the philosophy and life of Simone Weil, employing strategies similar to those present in Overby’s work. Sill, iterations of which the artist has made since 2008, addresses Weil’s writings and ideas about labour and the life of factory workers, is comprised of materials from an older work by the artist. A once freestanding sculpture has broken, overworked in a transferal of exhaustion into inert matter.

On Simone Weil Avenue…is a series comprised of replica Barbie Dream House floors with mounted photographs shot on location in a chain hotel on Simone Weil Avenue, a non-residential road in Ashford, Kent. On arrival, the location appeared to the artist to be the antithesis of Weil’s philosophy, but upon reflection may have been an ideal site for the subjects of her research. Working with a photographer and local actor, these images of products purchased in the Warren Retail Park become ruminations on Weil’s life and writings, utilizing only the services found on the road named after her. The Dream House bases are reoriented to become frames, formed by a process used for industrial prototyping, that align the images towards their location as a site of contemplation.

Simone Weil was a French philosopher born in 1909 in Paris, and died in 1943 in Ashford. Simone Weil Avenue is a section of the A28 near the site of her grave, named in 1983.

Also included in the exhibition is Law’s work untitled, comprised of a Victoria Plum Tree removed from 79 Binstead Lodge Road. Thinking about ones’ own roots, Law literally uproots a tree from a location now accessible only through memory. Despite the tree being dead upon removal, the need for care and treatment remains, as the wood is still responsive to both external as well as internal affects.

Ian Law, on Simone Weil Avenue with Lewis Ronald, Michal Szpunt and products from the Warren Retail Park in the Chartwell conference suite, Ashford International Hotel Simone Weil Avenue, 9th December 2017, replica Barbie Dream House floor, unique fibre based bromide print, plexiglass cover, 36.5 x 36.5 x 3 cm (14 3/8 x 14 3/8 x 1 1/8 in), 2018

Ian Law, on Simone Weil Avenue with Lewis Ronald, Michal Szpunt and products from the Warren Retail Park in the Chartwell conference suite, Ashford International Hotel Simone Weil Avenue, 9th December 2017, replica Barbie Dream House floor, unique fibre based bromide print, plexiglass cover, 36.5 x 36.5 x 3 cm (14 3/8 x 14 3/8 x 1 1/8 in), 2018

Robert Overby, WAXY LADIES, October 1975, Offset lithograph and wax on wood, each 8.9 x 7.3 cm (3 1/2 x 2 7/8 in)

Robert Overby, WAXY LADIES, October 1975, Offset lithograph and wax on wood, each 8.9 x 7.3 cm (3 1/2 x 2 7/8 in)

Installation view, Robert Overby and Ian Law, Condo: Rodeo / Andrew Kreps, Robert Overby / Ian Law, Rodeo, London, 2017

Installation view, Robert Overby and Ian Law, Condo: Rodeo / Andrew Kreps, Robert Overby / Ian Law, Rodeo, London, 2017

Installation view, Robert Overby and Ian Law, Condo: Rodeo / Andrew Kreps, Robert Overby / Ian Law, Rodeo, London, 2017

Installation view, Robert Overby and Ian Law, Condo: Rodeo / Andrew Kreps, Robert Overby / Ian Law, Rodeo, London, 2017

Robert Overby, Two Window Wall Map, 20 August 1972, canvas, 268 x 406.4 cm (105 1/2 x 160 in). Installation view, Condo: Rodeo / Andrew Kreps, Robert Overby / Ian Law, Rodeo, London, 2017

Robert Overby, Two Window Wall Map, 20 August 1972, canvas, 268 x 406.4 cm (105 1/2 x 160 in). Installation view, Condo: Rodeo / Andrew Kreps, Robert Overby / Ian Law, Rodeo, London, 2017

Ian Law, Sill, overworked sculpture part c.2013 in enamelled aluminium, woollen blankets on mattress foam, 232 x 34 x 15 cm (91 3/8 x 13 3/8 x 5 7/8 in), 2018. Installation view, Condo: Rodeo / Andrew Kreps, Robert Overby / Ian Law, Rodeo, London, 2017

Ian Law, Sill, overworked sculpture part c.2013 in enamelled aluminium, woollen blankets on mattress foam, 232 x 34 x 15 cm (91 3/8 x 13 3/8 x 5 7/8 in), 2018. Installation view, Condo: Rodeo / Andrew Kreps, Robert Overby / Ian Law, Rodeo, London, 2017

Installation view, Robert Overby and Ian Law, Condo: Rodeo / Andrew Kreps, Robert Overby / Ian Law, Rodeo, London, 2017

Installation view, Robert Overby and Ian Law, Condo: Rodeo / Andrew Kreps, Robert Overby / Ian Law, Rodeo, London, 2017

Condo with Ian Law, Robert Overby. January 13 – February 17, 2018