INSTIGATOR performance with tattoos by Jose Krapp on Friday, Oct. 7th from 7-10pm
EXHIBITION DATES: September 17th-December 8th, 2011
OPENING: September 17, 2011
CLOSING: December 8th, 2011
PERFORMANCE: October 7th, 2011
HOURS: all events 7-9pm and by appointment
9 arches is pleased to present Jose Krapp as our inaugural exhibition. “Substation” is an immersive subterranean installation that focuses on current interests in secrecy, security and escape. Krapp looks at what happens when these familiar desires are misplaced: what structures are made, what objects emerge? Using cast off materials, Krapp has built an environment that is part childhood fort and part survivalist bunker, conflating whimsical play with paranoid terror.
Through a trap door, viewers are asked to descend into the “Substation,” an architecture that houses various prompts that are in opposition with one another. While one room appears to be a meeting place for the beginning of a revolution, an adjacent space presents the opportunity for mischief. These rooms contain every emergency item and vice needed to fight, retreat, or hide: Molotov cocktails, fire extinguishers, blankets, etc.
Krapp uses text throughout the various compartments to denote certain objects, differentiating it from its common use. Through these labels Krapp presents alternate narratives. Terms like “Don’t Give Up the Ship” or “I am Not Sorry” propose a dialog between the inhabitant and their environment, a back and forth between the strong and pathetic, the smart and stupid, the playful and dangerous.
Krapp will continue to develop “Substation” over the course of the exhibition, with performance events culminating into the closing reception.
Jose Enrique Krapp received his B.A. from The University Texas at El Paso and completed a MFA at NYU in 2000. He has participated in the S-Flies show at El Museo Del Barrio, The AIM program at the Bronx Museum, The Henry Street Settlement Work Space Residency, The Cooper Union Artist Teacher Summer Residency and the Border Arts Residency in La Union, New Mexico. His work has been shown at Hendershot Fine Arts in New York City, The Soap Factory in Minneapolis, The Dallas Contemporary Visual Art Center and English Kills Art Gallery in Brooklyn, NY.
9 arches
1013 Willoughby Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11221
9arches@gmail.com
