FEBRUARY 12 – MARCH 12, 2016

MARK KHAISMAN
Magnetic Fields
Mixed Media Works

Artist Reception: Friday, February 12, 5:30 – 8:00 PM

Pentimenti Gallery presents MARK KHAISMAN: Magnetic Fields, the artist’s third solo exhibition at
Pentimenti Gallery.

Khaisman continues to base his works on the pre-existing images that he collects from old movies and auction catalogs. His new movie stills are borrowed from the 1930 French movie “Prix de Beauté”,
starring Louise Brooks. Known as one of the last silent movies, “Prix de Beauté” is also notable for being one of the first dubbed films, and the last starring Louise Brooks. Brooks has been forgotten and the movie had’t even been seen in the U.S. until nearly three decades later, when the movie and its star
thoroughly re-emerged into popular esteem, rising from a footnote to an icon. As the trend returned, the “Prix de Beauté” was restored to its original silent version. This series introduces Khaisman’s new
technique, using clear adhesive tape and aluminum oxide powder. Charged particles are drawn onto transparent tape in random densities. These shadowy filters of dust are overlaid strata by strata. As the materiality builds, atmospheres emerge on several scales. They are images that capture the whole and its parts within and beyond the frame.

In the second part of the show Mark mimics antique objects, silverware from the Victorian era, Louis XV furniture, and a selection of stills from the 1956 Hollywood classic “War and Peace”, starring Audrey
Hepburn. The silverware and furniture pieces show objects are that of refinement, high society, and style. The images from “War and Peace” have a similar reputation. The films and their stars also carry a level of sophistication. Khaisman says “The juxtaposition of the disposable with the iconic could explain the
superficial motives, which make up the work.” The bond that the images have with their symbolism or their pedigree is being challenged by the Khaisman’s use of tape, which is a material that is understood to be disposable and ordinary. This material choice also creates a conversation about what is seen and that of which is experienced.

Khaisman’s images are reinterpreted as pixelated fields, and presented in a way that questions the
viewer’s perception of the familiar. The effect is reached by shifting levels of familiarity from the familiar-as-image to the familiar-as-experience-of-material. Using a variety of adhesive tapes Khaisman creates images, which reveal their process and become parallel stories of how the images were made. He
describes his process as “chaos management” pointing out the resemblance of his studio practice to a scientific lab experiment. His attention to production suggests that his work is as much about the physical make-up of images as it is about their content.

Born in Kiev, Khaisman studied Art and Architecture at the Moscow Architectural Institute, Moscow, Russia. His recent exhibitions are: Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY; Visual Art Center of New Jersey, Summit, NJ; Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA; Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany; BYU Museum of Art, Proto, UT; and more. He has been the recipient of many awards and works are found in the collections of: Brandywine Trust Collection, Philadelphia; British Airline Collection, London; Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington; NBC Collection, New York; Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany; West Collection, Philadelphia, and more. He has also appeared in the following publications: Art’sVice France, FLUSH magazine, The Huffington Post, The VOICE, Philadelphia Magazine, WIRED, CNN.com and many more. Mark Khaisman is represented by Pentimenti Gallery in Philadelphia.

For all inquiries, please contact Pentimenti Gallery at [email protected] or +1 215.625.9990.