Kinkead Contemporary Announces Exhibition by
Alexander Lee:
Recitations from the Great Fish Changing Skies
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In Lee's new installment, he transforms the gallery into a space that invites the viewer to witness the epic and chilling legend of the creation of a volcanic island. This fable tells of a rebellious young maiden who defied the gods by swimming in a river near her home, only to be swallowed by an inexplicable eel. Lee's sculptures delve into the aftermath of this episode and the subsequent chain of events that culminated into the creation of the island of Tahiti. Further accounts and interpretations of the myth put forth the story of a clan of villagers exiling themselves from the highly religious and regimented life at Opoa - island of Raiatea and home to the Polynesian civilization. Their journey on the open seas in double canoes, guided by stars, led them to Tahiti-manahune, or plebeian Tahiti.
While Lee's driving narrative is firmly planted in Tahitian folklore, his interest lies in the anthropological and cultural construction of the Other, which manifests in what the artist refers to as "an ecology of carnivorous relationships." The exhibition's central sculpture, titled The Great Fish Changing Skies, is comprised of an erupting mushroom cloud. It refers to the Island's recent past as France's nuclear testing ground, as well as the ensuing local economical boom, and, more broadly, the military-industrial-complex and its recent global aftermaths. The lower component of the sculpture, cast in resin and black sand, consists of clashing tectonic plates in the shape of mountain peaks that form both the base for the volcanic/nuclear eruption, and the transforming body of the mythical fish. A third component, in the shape of a submarine spill, gives direction to the creature in transformation, announcing the development of species. Finally, hanging in mid-air, a series of sculptures in the shape of stars draw a trajectory between the body of the fish and the visual recitation of its journey.
In addition to sculptures, Lee will be showing for the first time a series of drawings on paper that trace an arc for his sculpture's fantastical journey. At times loose and poetically fragile, and other times more topographically determined, they broaden Lee's practice and give pendant to the physicality of his sculptures.
Alexander Lee was born in Stockton, CA and grew up in Tahiti, French Polynesia. He received his MFA from Columbia University and an MPS from New York University. Lee's work has appeared in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the U.S. and Europe, and he has recently been awarded a fellowship at the RBPMW in New York. This is Lee's second solo exhibition at the Kinkead Contemporary gallery.
Kinkead Contemporary is a contemporary art gallery dedicated to emerging artists. Founded by John Kinkead, the gallery's mission is to introduce new voices through an ambitious series of solo and curated group exhibitions.
For further information, please contact:
John Kinkead
Kinkead Contemporary
john@kinkeadcontemporary.com
6029 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
310 838-7400
www.kinkeadcontemporary.com
For press inquiries and to RSVP to the Alexander Lee opening, please contact Cara Morrissey at Ballantines PR.
Cara Morrissey
Ballantines PR
cara@ballantinespr.com
tel: 310 454 3080
fax: 310 388 6027
cell: 310 499 3033
www.ballantinespr.com
