Levels, Forms and Dimensions, May 2010
An exhibition of mixed media work by Angelbert Metoyer at Colton & Farb Gallery, Houston.
M-window B10, M-window A9, May 2010
In Levels, Forms and Dimensions — Research in Progress, Angelbert Metoyer brings together his latest series of works with his most recent research. The project includes three different bodies of work, including M Windows, which features cosmological myths of the creation, adding a strong dimension of subjective experience. Also represented is the Song Keeper series, which reflects on invented pop culture characters and their complex relationship to today’s human condition. Finally, a special feature of the exhibition is “The Encyclopedia of Now,” a film in progress, which is part of the ongoing Metoyer project under development in collaboration with a dozen of filmmakers, including Marc Armes and Brothers McWillams.??The groundbreaking M Windows series deconstructs the concepts of time and memory. Dizzyingly codified works are informed by a notion that time exists only as a personal, psychological experience. The work recreates Metoyer’s ‘mind:memory:moment’ equation within the context of a collection of still images. The placement of these upon each other within sheets of gold-dust-flecked layered glass creates holographic movement within the work that is intended to encounter the path of thought in the viewer’s mind, providing an intervention in space and time. In M Windows, the notions of both war and beauty are presented in a state of eternal potentiality.
In 2007, Metoyer started developing Song Keeper, a complex body of work in a continuous collaboration with poet and musician Saul Williams. Together, they created a three dimensional personality inspired by Metoyer’s paintings of a character called Hollywood (aka Song Keeper) in a nod to the funk music sound that was the original cover for the black alien-mythology movement. The work also includes a take on the Nigga-Gothic movement, which has been identified as a rebellious reaction to the American idea of the cultural cosmic melting pot, reflecting the poetic tradition of African American culture with the dark melancholy of gothic music and style. Re-interpreted notions of pop culture, social relationships and mythology collide in a highly inspiring combination, allowing us to understand and imagine current and potential scenarios of human development.
The video screening of ‘The encyclopedia of now’ reflects a take on our world, with its growing global and shrinking personal experience. A dozen filmmakers are given video footage of Metoyer’s travels and interviews shot within the last ten years — from Mongolia to New York, from London to Turkey and further. In collaboration they construct a visual debate on the nature of contemporary global society.
Levels, Forms and Dimensions — Research in Progress, a multilayered Angelbert Metoyer’s exhibition at Colton & Farb Gallery reveals important aspects of his creative process and ongoing research, and allows us to indulge in his deeply analytical and highly experiential work.
Colton & Farb Gallery is part of Deborah Colton Gallery, which is founded as an innovative showcase for ongoing presentation and promotion of strong historical and visionary contemporary artists world-wide, whose diverse practices include painting, works on paper, sculpture, video, photography, performance and conceptual future media installations.
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Houston, Texas 77098