Vampiric Battle

토니 아워슬러

Mattress Factory

Pittsburgh

2009년 10월 10일–2010년 3월 21일

Installation view of Vampiric Battle at Mattress Factory

Pittsburgh, PA

Tony Oursler is an artist who embraces modern technology as a means of probing our inner selves, be they obsessive, delusional, comedic, or all of the above. Oursler animates non-living objects with the use of projectors and deals with communication and lack of communication in contemporary society. Along with Bill Viola, Bruce Nauman, Gary Hill and similar artists, he is among the most outstanding media creators who have employed this technique in a totally different manner. He animates the inanimate and explores both real and imagined space. Oursler has broken new ground in the world of video art by freeing the image from the cumbersome boundaries of the video monitor, conventional film screen and picture frame. Instead, he projects images on a variety of surfaces such as smoke, cotton balls, antennae, water and mirrors.

Underlying much of his art is the belief that contemporary man has lost control, both of himself and of his environment. These concerns are often expressed within a political context. His video and multimedia works take the form of a low-tech, expressionistic theater that is singular in contemporary art. Willfully primitive, often grotesque, and crafted with an ingenious handmade sensibility, his psycho-dramatic landscapes are fabricated within the ironic vernacular of pop culture. His idiosyncratic fictions are bizarre narrative odysseys through psychosexual delirium and the detritus and artifacts of mass culture. Oursler's technological configurations are not only plugged into philosophical issues of identity and abjectness, but his uncanny virtual beings tap into a disorienting array of social, psychological, and existential issues.

Tony Oursler (b. 1957, New York, NY; lives and works in New York, NY) is best known for his innovative integration of video, sculpture, performance and installation. A pioneering figure in new media since the 1970s, Oursler has since explored diverse methods of exploring popular culture, historical and sub-cultural themes while incorporating the moving image into his practice, breaking video art out of the two-dimensional screen to create immersive environments with the use of light sound and projections. In 2000, Oursler began a series of large scale outdoor projection projects which incorporate landscape, water, smoke, trees, architecture, performative and sculptural elements; some are permanently installed. His sculptures, wall works and installations present a rich visual multimedia experience which often incorporates cultural references and information that seeks to actively engage the viewer. His artworks often employ poetics and humor to explore a wide range of subjects such as belief systems, facial recognition, superstition, conspiracy theories, UFOs and the role technology plays in altering, inhibiting, and expanding social behavior.

Oursler received a B.F.A. from the California Institute of the Arts in 1979. Solo exhibitions of his work have been organized at Kunst Museum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland (forthcoming, 2025); Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL (2024); SCAI PIRAMIDE, Tokyo, Japan (2024); Photo Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland (2022); K11 Musea, Hong Kong (2021); Kunstraum Dornbirn, Dornbirn, Austria (2021); Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan (2021); Musée d’Arts de Nantes, Nantes, France (2020); Nanging Eye Pedestrian Bridge, Nanjing, China (2019); Public Art Fund, New York, NY (2018); The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (2016); LUMA Foundation, Arles, France (2015); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands (2014); Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom (2013); Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil (2013); Pinchuk Art Centre, Kiev, Ukraine (2013); Art Sonje Center, Seoul, South Korea (2012); ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus, Denmark (2012); and Jeu de Paume, Paris, France, traveling to the DA2 Domus Artium, Salamanca, Spain, and the Kunstforeningen, Copenhagen, Denmark (2005), among numerous others.