Merkx&Gwynne - KING ARTHUR ROCK BANQUET
April 17 - May 17, 2015
Opening reception: Friday, April 17 (7 - 9pm)
Merkx&Gwynne is pleased to present King Arthur Rock Banquet (KARB), an exhibition conceived as a retrospective. The installation marks a new chapter in King Arthur Rock Opera, and features a new set designed as a performative stage. The set is composed of decorated scenery flats, artworks and props produced by collaborating artists for previous exhibitions and works of opera and theater. The overall presentation of Merkx&Gwynne videos and filmic materials, as well as related artworks, props, and objects, encapsulates the last several years of the duo’s creative production.
Andrea Merkx and Nathan Gwynne have worked together since 2008, initially as bandmates in a rock band, then expanding into music video production. The artistic partnership was formalized as Merkx&Gwynne with the pressing of a red, transparent vinyl record and exhibition at Shoot The Lobster. From the creation of “Can’t Stop Rock Lobster” in 2012 to their collaborations with opera directors, musicians, and artist peers, Merkx&Gwynne are interested in becoming not only organizers, but also actors, playing in front of (or with) works by other artists.
This installation features set objects from several theatrical productions. The egg and wallpaper motif covering several theatrical flats is a photograph by Jessica Bennett, printed as the dust jacket for Take This From Me, a book produced by Merkx&Gwynne w/ Typaldos. The egg itself is modeled after Faberge eggs designed as stage props for Jay Scheib’s play and live film Platonov, or the Disinherited. The globes of light and theater flats come from LoftOpera’s recent staging of Lucrezia Borgia, directed by Laine Rettmer with scenic design by Michael Simmons. The large portraits of Gwynne by Peter LaBier and Merkx by Teddy DeLap were originally painted for Former Models, conceived of as both an independent exhibition and as a scenic element in WOW, an operatic experiment directed by David Levine and dramaturgically based on the story of the pop duo Milli Vanilli. The oversized frames complimenting these portraits were also produced for Former Models by Paul Bergeron, an artist contributor instrumental in the design and construction of this installation.
This show not only brings together objects from other productions, but for the first time presents video from King Arthur Rock Opera, their ongoing saga borrowing from Arthurian legend as both generator and armature for creative production. The project is designed to unfold over the span of several years, a long-form experiment in time-based media within which other artistic collaborations, such as DROOIDS have emerged. Working across disciplines seamlessly, DROOIDS generates improvisational scenarios for the production of both music and photographic prints in contexts such as hotel bathrooms, restaurant basements, and art galleries.
This installation is designed as a set and a stage for DROOIDS (May performance dates TBA), withJessica Bennett, Paul Bergeron, Barb Choit, Tania Cross, Cynthia Daignault, Teddy DeLap, Tyler Dobson and Rebecca Poland, Ben Dowell, Elizabeth Ferry, Michael Flannery, Ron Flannery, Vivienne Griffin, Halsey Hathaway, Anders Holen, Matt Hoyt, Timothy Hull, Tonya Huskey, Kristen Jensen, Robin Kang, Zerek Kempf, Peter LaBier, Jennifer Macdonald, Lionel Maunz, Rome Petersson, Laine Rettmer, Davina Semo, Nickolaus Typaldos.
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Subway: L train to Montrose Avenue
Exhibition Hours: Saturday & Sunday 1-6pm and by appointment
Image: Merkx&Gwynne with Hendrix (2015)