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Second floor: Christian Eckart "Closer/Still II" Click here to see Stacey Davidson's show discription July 2nd through August 28th  Christian Eckart: "This exhibition opportunity at The Re Institute presented me with a chance to test a hypothesis by creating a site-specific installation piece entitled "Closer/Still II". As an undergraduate art student in Western Canada I created a work in homage to Ian Curtis and the music of Joy Division about 40 years ago, entitled “Closer/Still”, and this new installation piece is meant to index and affirm that long ago gesture. As an emerging artist in New York in the mid eighties and early nineties I had the extraordinary good fortune of being able to spend a lot of time in Europe visiting exceptional museums and collections as well as dozens of significant cathedrals and to experience many works of architectural and art-historical relevance in situ. In particular I recall the powerful impression of the tall slender stained glass of Sainte Chapelle, the private chapel of the French Monarchy, completed in Paris around 1248. I found myself overwhelmed by what can only be described as the psychedelic and psycho-active impact of engaging with the space and the spray of hallucinogenic color from the stained glass. The neurological and psychological operations and manipulations attendant to and with sanctified spaces and objects has always been a site of critical inquiry for me and this exhibition is meant to be an examination and manifestation of that ongoing fascination and interest."  Christian Eckart Bio: Canadian born (Calgary, Alberta, 1959, American citizenship since 1995) international artist Christian Eckart, formerly based in New York (1984-2003), settled in Houston, Texas at the beginning of 2003. During the 20 years he lived in NYC and up to the present Eckart’s work has been the subject of over 60 solo exhibitions, including many museum surveys, and has been included in over 150 group exhibitions. His work is represented in many important private and public permanent collections including those of The Guggenheim Museum, N.Y., The Museum of Modern Art, N.Y., Museum ModernerKunst, Vienna, The Chicago Art Institute, The Detroit Institute of Art, the Broad Art Foundation and The Art Gallery of Ontario as well as many others throughout North America, Europe and Asia. He split his time between New York and Berlin, 1996-1997, and then between New York and Amsterdam, 1997-2000. Christian Eckart was an instructor at The School of Visual Art, New York from 1994 through 2002, the Glassell School of Art, New York of The Museum of Fine Art Houston from 2003 through 2005, and he held visiting professorships at both the University of Houston and Rice University. In 2009 he received the distinguished honor of being inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts. He has lectured extensively throughout North America and Europe, realized many public and private commissions, organized group exhibitions and published a number of essays and articles. |