Stephen Kent | elephant-kunsthall.no

STEPHEN KENT

" I´M A JACK OF ALL TRADES, WE´LL BE ALRIGHT "

20.08-30.9.16 / Preview Saturday 20.08.16 / 14.00-16.00

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ELEPHANT KUNSTHALL is proud to announce an exhibition of new works by Berlin-based artist Stephen Kent.

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Stephen Kent's first solo exhibition in Europe embraces multiple bodies of work

dealing with resolution and image production through the decorative gesture

A large mosaic diptych utilizes the earliest form of pixelisation,

poorly rendered everyday objects held captive in shifting windows of mosaic digital weave

Mosaic photo montages recreate various still lifes found in public spaces,

translating anonymous beginning paintings into rudimentary technique

altered elementary modes of representation displayed in the original backdrop in which they were discovered

Plaster casts of sophomoric, slapdash paintings serve as voidal punctuations throughout the space,

the original imagery diluted by repainted surfaces, muddling the first intentions of representational mark making

stagnated paintings as restless wallflowers left endlessly folding into themselves

In the enclave, two renderings of Kangxi period cats form quotations around a kitty litter tea bowl from the same dynasty,

lit by the warm domestic light of the ubiquitous Chinese paper globe lamp,

convoluting notions of east and west, high and low, while creating intimate space for comic reflection

"'I'm A Jack of All Trades, We''ll Be Alright" bounces playfully between binaries,

the art historical - contemporary, cultured - camp, reverence and humor

The concurrent displays of multiple bodies of work counter notions of the "master",

offering an eclectic, anthropological celebration through the lens of the despecialized dilettante

positing a plethora of encouraging visual shifts and material puns

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Stephen Kent was born in 1985 in Pennsylvania. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Fine Arts from Cranbrook Academy of Art. He is the recipient of numerous awards and grants, including a Leighton International Artist Exchange Program Grant to attend the International Ceramics Research Center in Denmark, a Kiki Smith Award to study at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and a Fellowship Recipient at Oxbow School of Art and Artist Residency. He has been included in exhibition in museums in the US and Denmark and has participated in numerous curated exhibitions in the US and Europe. He currently lives and works in Berlin.

Wiesesgate 4, 2615 Lillehammer // post@elephant-kunsthall.no