Monique Meloche is pleased to announce a solo exhibition by Cindy
Loehr
Twilight Knowledge
February 1 – March 8, 2008
opening reception for the artist Friday, February 1st 5-8pm
moniquemeloche
118 N. Peoria
Chicago, IL 60607
312.455.0299
www.moniquemeloche.com
hrs: tues-sat 11am-5pm
For her second solo show at moniquemeloche, Cindy Loehr found inspiration
in the theological poetry of Peter O'Leary and titled her exhibition Twilight
Knowledge. The exhibition features Loehr’s Fuel for Constant
Light – a multi-media installation consisting of six towering
aluminum wings, representing the six-winged Seraphim, complete with audio
accompaniment.
Spirituality has always been a concern of Loehr's, whose meticulously
hand-crafted works reference “…the benign communal vocabularies
of organized religion and public display.” Lisa Kurzner ArtPapers
Loehr’s interest in Angels stems from their role as intercessors
between the ineffable abstraction of heaven and the concrete reality of
earth. The six-winged Seraphim are the highest order of angels. Described
as emanations of pure light, they are the most philosophical of the angels.
Their only job is to fly around and sing, but they sing in direct communication
with god. In the song for Fuel for Constant Light, human desire is sung
as an earthly aspiration towards the divine. This is a subversion of traditional
Christian doctrine, which sees desire as the root of all sin. Also on
view is Inward Generator - a quilt sewn with photographs taken by Loehr
in New York City, from dusk through night, combined with pictures by Randy
Russell of his own personal shrine. The quilt is assembled to create an
iconic pattern; a ritualized reordering of passing impressions. Inward
Generator is inspired both by the cosmological mapping of the mandala
and the dark luminance of church stained glass. Like the mandala, Inward
Generator is created as a tool for focusing inward.
Fuel For Constant Light was first
exhibited at the Hiromi Yoshii Gallery in Tokyo in 2006, and in the group
show "Place of the Transcommon" curated by Nicholas Frank at
INOVA/VOGEL, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee in 2007. The title is taken
from Peter O'Leary's poem "With More Passionate Flying," which
says: "Words of angels are fuel for constant light." Lyrics
are by Loehr in collaboration with Chuck Stebelton, with Carlos Lama (vocals),
Ray Chi (cello), and Jesse Peterson (background vocals). The artist would
like to thank Brad & Leslie Bucher and Nancy & Gene Hooff for
their production support for Fuel for Constant Light and Michael Crocker
& Stephen Tan for assistance with Inward Generator.
Cindy Loehr's work is currently included in "The Puppet Show"
curated by Ingrid Schaffner and Carin Kuoni at the Institute of Contemporary
Art (ICA), University of Pennsylvania. This traveling exhibition is accompanied
by a fully illustrated catalogue and the venues are: Santa Monica Museum
of Art, The Contemporary Museum Honolulu, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston,
The Frye Art Museum Seattle. Selected artist include Nayland Blake, Louise
Bourgeois, Maurizio Cattelan, Anne Chu, Dan Graham, Pierre Huyghe, Christian
Jankowski, Mike Kelley, William Kentridge, Annette Messager, Paul McCarthy,
Bruce Nauman, Dennis Oppenheim, Philippe Parreno and Rirkrit Tiravanija,
Kiki Smith, Kara Walker, and Charlie White. Loehr has exhibited widely,
including the Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center, Contemporary Arts Museum
Houston, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. She was awarded an
artist residency with the Core Program of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston
(2003-05) and earned her MFA from the University of Illinois Chicago (2001).
Loehr also runs the Love Letter Collection and distributes don’t
give up magnets as ongoing projects http://www.collectiveexperience.org.
Loehr was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1971 and lives in New York.
for further information contact Jenny Shedor or Whitney Tassie
at 312.455.0299
