Intro
Tobias Madison: Hydrate + Perform/Yes I Can! The Movie: Preview
Swiss Institute, New York
3 March–24 April 2010
Content
Tobias Madison’s first US solo show was a newly commissioned project in two parts. 'Hydrate + Perform' consists of a series of large acrylic tanks, each filled with a different flavor of Vitamin Water. The stunning blocks of pastel color create a counter rhythm to the columns that support the gallery space on Broadway. Other display cases frame synthetic plants, Pollockized with drips of paint. Large color prints of Compact Discs scanned and warped constitute wall panoramas. The various layers form a landscape unfolding different states of artificiality.
The second part of the exhibition entitled 'Yes I Can! The Movie: Preview' pairs Madison’s notorious flag paintings with a short film shot in 2009. The road movie leading from Switzerland to Mongolia tracks the use of monuments and brutalist architecture on the way. The flags are embezzled from Radisson Hotels, their slogan Yes I can! crudely appropriated. Stretched as if they are the real thing and pimped with oil paint by different collaborators, they enter art history through the service door. Herewith the status of painting is naturally demystified by Madison.
