Paul Chan

The Bather’s Dilemma presents the Bathers, a series of pneumatic sculptural and moving-image works constructed of nylon fabric and powered by industrial fans, alongside painted “towel works,” and preparatory models. Chan reconsiders the “bather,” a motif employed in compositions by artists like Matisse and Cezanne to express changing ideas of the body, pleasure, nature and society. For Chan, the “bather” in the 21st century is caught perilously between the pursuit of personal pleasure and suffering for social progress.

The Bather’s Dilemma at Greene Naftali coincides with the current exhibition Artistic License: Six Takes on the Guggenheim Collection, which includes a curated section by Chan entitled Sex, Water, Salvation, or What is a Bather? that explores related themes. On October 8, Chan will speak at the Guggenheim about his contribution to the exhibition.

Paul Chan lives and works in New York. He was the 2014 recipient of the Hugo Boss Prize, which coincided with his solo exhibition Nonprojections for New Lovers at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2015. Chan is one of six artists to co-curate the group exhibition, Artistic License: Six Takes on the Guggenheim Collection, currently on view through January 12, 2020. Recent solo exhibitions include Odysseus and the Bathers, Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens (2018); Bathers at Night, Remai Modern, Saskatoon, Canada (2018); Rhi Anima, Greene Naftali, New York (2017); Pillowsophia, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia (2017); Hippias Minor, Deste Foundation Project Space, Slaughterhouse, Hydra, Greece (2015); Selected Works, Schaulager, Basel (2014); My laws are my whores, The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, Chicago (2009); The 7 Lights, New Museum, New York (2008); and The 7 Lights, Serpentine Gallery, London (2007).