ETERNAL REST (SILVER EDITION), MJ 06, 2012 DIGITAL ILLUSTRATION, C-PRINT. 20 X 16 INCHES ED. OF 3, + 1 AP
“ETERNAL REST” BY PACO CAO: CONTACT THE SPIRIT OF YOUR MUSIC IDOLS AND KNOW YOUR FUTURE
OPENING RECEPTION OCTOBER 30TH, 6 – 8 PM (BY INVITATION ONLY)
SPECIAL HALLOWEEN PARTY OCTOBER 31ST, 6 – 9 PM (BY INVITATION ONLY)
OPEN TO PUBLIC OCTOBER 30 – NOVEMBER 10
317 10TH AVENUE, GROUND FLOOR, NEW YORK, NY 10001
(Art) Amalgamated is pleased to announce Eternal Rest, a solo presentation of work by artist Paco Cao. Known for challenging an audience’s definition of an art experience through his unique and daring projects, this exhibition will be the artist’s most perilous undertaking yet – his ascension to the occult.
For this exhibition, Cao created a deck of forty digitally illustrated Tarot cards that forge a link between the past, present, and future through the combination of the images of four contemporary music idols. For the duration of Eternal Rest, the artist will channel the spirits of Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, and Kurt Cobain to enlist their aid as guides through the spirit world. Peering into the future and past, Cao will give private card readings to each gallery visitor navigating them through the vicissitudes of their fate.
The likenesses of the aforementioned pop icons were fused with European Master paintings, etchings, or frescoes from the Renaissance era through the 19th Century. In one work, Michael Jackson is depicted as Man in a Red Turban, Jan van Eyck’s iconic portrait from c.1433, while another illustration renders Kurt Cobain in the guise of a Renaissance era friar. Through casting 21st century images within a canonized historical painting, Cao invites the viewer to explore the longstanding relationship between art, symbolism, and magical thinking while offering a prediction into your spiritual future.
The complete collection of original digital illustrations will be on display at the gallery along with a hand-painted banner and fetishes. Four specific cards were inspired by four artworks belonging to the MART collection in Rovereto, Italy where Eternal Rest will be on view concurrently. (http://www.mart.trento.it/)
Paco will be giving personalized card readings for the duration of the show. Appointments are available 12-6pm during our normal business days, starting November 1, and during the two special opening event evenings. If you would like to have a card reading, please make a reservation at:
http://www.eternalrest.info/services.html or contact info@artamalgamated.com
Paco Cao (b. 1965 – Tudela Veguín, Asturias, Spain) studied Art History at the University of Oviedo (Spain), where he received his Ph.D. in 1992. Since 1994 he lives and works in New York City.
His long-term projects include Dance Poison (2009-On going), a 71 minutes film commissioned by CGAC (Santiago de Compostela, Spain); the Look-alike Contest Series (2001-2004) organized in collaboration with El Museo del Barrio (NYC, USA), El Prado Museum (Madrid, Spain), Casa de América (Madrid, Spain), the Art Museum of Nuoro (Sardinia, Italy), and the Jovellanos Museum (Gijón, Spain); and the Rent-a-Body business enterprise (1993-1998) organized in collaboration with Creative Time, Inc. (NYC, USA.)
Among his public projects and solo exhibitions are Don’t Touch the White Woman, 2006 (Claire Oliver Gallery, NY); Border 2000 (Public Safety, Skoghall, Sweden); La ciudad de Dios, 1999 (Artfutura, Seville, Spain); and Alma Mater, 1997 (Joan Miró Foundation, Barcelona, Spain).
In 2011, his work was shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York as part of the exhibition Facets of Figuration, as well as at the 8 Mercosul Biennale, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
