Overview
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac is pleased to announce the presentation of a new portfolio of prints by Rona Pondick.
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac is pleased to announce the presentation of a new portfolio of prints by Rona Pondick. The portfolio of nine offset lithographs was printed on the occasion of the exhibition Rona Pondick: The Metamorphosis of an Object, on view from April to October 2009 at the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts. The nine merged images incorporate details of seven Rona Pondick sculptures, six historical objects from the Worcester Art Museum's permanent collection, and one object from a private collection. This limited edition is printed on Gardapat Klassika paper, signed by the artist, and is enclosed in a hand-made, linen traycase.
"Each of the nine prints matches elements from Pondick's sculptures with corresponding details from historical objects originating in Thailand, Italy, Mexico, France, Mesopotamia, Angola, and Japan. In [one] print half of Pondick's face and neck (cropped from a photo of Dog, 1998-2001) is paired with half of the head of the Seated Buddha in Maravijaya, a five-hundred-year-old bronze. The pained, introspective expression of Pondick's furrowed brow and pursed lips is at once heightened and softened by its juxtaposition with the enlightened Buddha's serenely closed eyes and tranquil smile, and the artist's wavy pulled-back hair is countered by the Buddha's bronze curls. Here, as in other prints that fashion a single countenance by matching details from Pondick's works with those from seemingly disparate sculptures, cultural difference is employed to visualize universal form" (Francine Koslow Miller, "Rona Pondick, Worcester Art Museum/Howard Yezerski Gallery," Artforum, December 2009, pp. 238-239).
"In 'The Metamorphosis of an Object,' Pondick invites us to our own unfiltered responses by plunging us back into history without the net of historical context. She honors a raft of unknown, long-dead sculptors by placing them beside her own work in an exhibit that is startlingly contemporary. She celebrates what they, and we, all have in common: a human body, and a desire to make sense of the unknown" (Cate McQuaid, "This 'Metamorphosis' spans centuries," The Boston Globe, April 26, 2009, p. N5).
The exhibition, Rona Pondick: The Metamorphosis of an Object, received many reviews from international and national press, including Art in America, Artforum, Sculpture, The Boston Globe, Artscope, The Boston Phoenix, The Metrowest Daily News, an interview with the artist on Bomb Magazine's website, www.bombsite.com, and a blog about the exhibition by Dawoud Bey, www.whatsgoingon-dawoudbeysblogspot.com.
