Sculpture Center New York shows Leopards in the Temple

Leopards in the Temple is a parable by Franz Kafka that reads as follows:

"Leopards break into the temple and drink to the dregs what is in the sacrificial pitchers; this is repeated over and over again; finally it can be calculated in advance, and it becomes a part of the ceremony."

The group exhibition of the same name focuses on moments of metamorphosis, paradox, and formal adjacency, borrowing from the parable an ability to promote multiple readings of succinct forms and extraordinary occurrences. Protean moments where materials elide, transform, and overlay take place in the work of Lothar Baumgarten, Nina Canell, Strauss Bourque-LaFrance, and Kitty Kraus, while the rules of image production are triangulated and problematized in the painting configurations of Patrick Hill, Lucas Knipscher, and Kerstin Brätsch and Adele Röder's DAS INSTITUT. Kathrin Sonntag and Nina Hoffmann (working in collaboration) and the collaborative duo João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva present slide and film projections that explore the uncanny through acts of magnetism, doubling, and transference. And sculpture is framed and distributed as an effaced and often fictional artifact in the work of Latifa Echakhch, Aleana Egan, and Lucy Skaer. Gathering together an international group of artists, the works in this exhibition share an extra-linguistic interest in moments of translation and a resistance to fixed forms.

Leopards in the Temple offers an unusual opportunity for New York audiences to experience the work of a number of increasingly prominent European artists, including 2009 Turner Prize Nominee Lucy Skaer, João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva, who together represented Portugal at the most recent Venice Biennale, Nina Canell, the winner of this year's Bâloise Art Prize at Art Basel 40 | Statements, along with Kathrin Sonntag, recipient of the 2009 Swiss Art Award and Kitty Kraus, recipient of the 2008 Blauorange Prize. The exhibition represents the first New York exhibition for a number of the participating artists.

As a complement to the exhibition, SculptureCenter and Anthology Film Archives will present screenings with Nashashibi/Skaer, an ongoing collaboration between artists Rosalind Nashashibi and Lucy Skaer on Monday, January 18, 2010, at 7:30 PM and João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva on March 8, 2010, at 7:30 PM at Anthology Film Archives.

Leopards in the Temple is presented with the support of Culture Ireland; Directorate-General for the Arts / Ministry of Culture, Portugal; and Calouste Goulbenkian Foundation.

Curated by Fionn Meade

Until the march 30, 2010.SculptureCenter 44 - 19 Purves Street Long Island City
New York 11101 Phone: 718.361.1750 Thursday-Monday 11am-6pm.