Emilie Halpern
Lightning #4
2006
thermoplastic, aluminum wire and mirrored acrylic
96 x 74 x 37 inches
courtesy of the artist and Anna Helwing Gallery

Greener Pastures, Permanent Midnight
2007
installation view

Greener Pastures, Permanent Midnight
2007
installation view

Greener Pastures, Permanent Midnight
2007
installation view

Dike Blair
Untitled
2006
gouache and pencil on paper
2 works, 24 x 18 inches each
courtesy of the artist and Feature Inc., New York

Franklin Evans
FF infinityyoung
2004
edition of 6 + 2 AP
digital video animation, 4 minutes
courtesy of the artist and
Jeff Bailey Gallery, New York

Emilie Halpern
End of Night
2007
edition 2 of 3
c-print
23 x 30 inches
courtesy of the artist and Anna Helwing Gallery

Joy Garnett
Road
2007
oil on canvas
30 x 35 inches
courtesy of the artist

Katie Holten
Untitled
2007
installation of 7 trees: newspaper, cardboard, wood, wire, gaffer tape
162 x 14 x 6 inches
courtesy of the artist and LMAKprojects, New York

GREENER PASTURES, PERMANENT MIDNIGHT is a group exhibition that includes painting, sculpture, photography, video, and installations by Dike Blair, Franklin Evans, Joy Garnett, Emilie Halpern, and Katie Holten, each of whom incorporate the effects of art history, the media, and world events, as well as drawing from their personal surroundings to visualize the contemporary landscape in ways that are fantastical, eco-conscious, subjective, and psychological in nature. Some derive source material appropriated from mainstream media and film, while others employ pseudo-scientific analysis as a methodology, or look toward natural phenomenon as a primary source, with many pieces formally manifesting as awkward or unwieldy objects. Where their works intersect is in how the “here and now” is conceived using a creative process that gives evidence of its material production. Perhaps as an attempt to make the sublime tangible, the artists in Greener Pastures, Permanent Midnight bestow a sense of immediacy to their work not available to them through the perceived reality that their sources allude to. Theirs is a world that depicts a hazy outcome at best, even if their commentary is at times pointed and political. All of this portends to a crisis in observing the contemporary world that is inquisitive, hopeful, and at times, catastrophic in nature, and all of which belies a sense of urgency, not only in terms of the means through which these artists articulate the moment, but also in questioning their ability to do so.

Ingrid Chu is a Canadian curator and critic based in New York. Chu has organized numerous exhibitions, public projects, and special editions, and her writing has appeared in Afterall, frieze, and Parachute, among other international publications. In May 2007, Chu joined the Moti Hasson Gallery as the Director of Development and Special Projects.

Also showing at the Moti Hasson Gallery during this time is And soon we may touch, the first New York solo exhibition by New York artist Sean Ryan. Gallery Hours are Monday to Saturday, from 10-8 pm and by appointment. For more information or to receive images for both exhibitions, please contact the gallery at 212-268-4444 or email Ingrid Chu at ingrid@motihasson.com.