C24 Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition by artist Tommy Hartung, marking his inaugural exhibition with the gallery. R.U.R will be on view from May 4 through June 23, 2018 at 560 West 24th Street, with an opening reception on Friday May 4 from 6 – 8 pm.

R.U.R., which stands for Rossum’s Universal Robots, presents a series of new, interactive video installations based on Karel Kapek’s 1920 science fiction play of the same name in which the term “robot” was first used. The play explores the speed of technological progress and the uncertainties and dehumanization that occurs as a result of the robotization of human interactions. In Hartung’s adaptation, the original play is re-written through photographs, costumes and interactive videos that pose the question: Why do men want to create robots that look human?

Tommy Hartung’s works analyze the creation and dissemination of cultural narratives by fragmenting and deconstructing his source material. Through the montages of stop motion animation and found footage, Hartung uses the themes of modernism as his subject matter. His sculptures, the subjects of his videos, are assembled through scavenged material to form hybrids of classical characters and nuanced allegory.

Tommy Hartung has exhibited at Museums throughout the United States, including most recently The Whitney Museum’s Whitney Biennial 2017, curated by Christopher Y. Lew and Mia Locks; The Rose Museum, Waltham MA; The Jewish Museum, New York, NY and MoMa PS1, Queens, New York.

His work is in the collection of: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, NY Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA Rose Art Museum, Waltham, MA Dimitris Daskalopoulos Collection, Athens, Greece.

Hartung was the recipient of the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Biennial Award in 2015 and the Painters and Sculptors Grant from the Joan Mitchell Foundation in 2011.