Way Out

Carter Seddon

Gina Fischli

John Miller

Nina Koennemann

Yuki Kimura

Zac Segbedzi

Looking at something for long enough might make it more or less familiar, as our perception becomes inherently affected by proximity and time. Art is a useful receptacle for observation, mediating between images and the physical world. This exhibition is largely in dialogue with photographic reproduction, formed out of looking attentively from a figurative distance or degree of separation.

The pedestrians standing at the entrance of the space is a work by John Miller, a shaped canvas painted with nearly life- sized figures. Based on photographs Miller took of people waiting to cross the street, the painting derives from his Middle of the Day series, images shot in public spaces between 12 and 2pm — the supposed time of the least desirable light for taking a photograph — documenting everyday behaviors from the eye of a persistent observer.

Yuki Kimura’s conceptual practice incorporates elements of photography, design, and sculpture to translate abstraction into materiality. Her works here are composed of miniature liquor bottles, but the emphasis is not only on the products or the context of their origin. The presentation draws attention to the variation and multiplicity of the object’s physicality, the slight difference in liquid, the repetition of the labels’ text, also evoking the (absence) of the body through enduring associations with the substance itself.

Carter Seddon’s photographs record the immediacy of his surroundings, often by photographing an existing image or a familiar scene, confusing documentation and staging. The camera inserts itself as a mediator to create poetic, tactile associations, showing a complexity beneath the deceptively simple and traditional presentation of the photographic image by treating it as a ready-made.

The large vinyl print by Gina Fischli depicts the Wartburg Castle in Germany, in a tunnel leading to the tiny room where Martin Luther went into hiding and translated the New Testament of the Bible. The photo was shot on an iPhone during the artist’s visit to the castle, then enlarged and printed on vinyl adhered directly to the wall. Her image evokes the uncanny, a feeling that propels inward, similar to the experience of self-reflection and isolation it depicts.

Zac Segbedzi’s painting is a fragment of a larger work and exhibition titled The Gimmick, originally staged in the artist’s hometown of Melbourne, Australia. These narrative canvases present a critical, diaristic chronicle of a visit to New York, paired with reproductions of works by canonical and contemporary artists. The piece simultaneously positions itself within the context of the current state of art, while dissecting its accompanying alienation and limitations from the inside.

The films of Nina Könnemann are incisive observations on public spaces and activities. Often they single out a particular action or objective — in the case of Bann, we see smokers in the City of London occupying increasingly regulated and minimized public spaces, following the smoking ban enforced in 2007. Filmed over the course of a few years via clandestine methods, frequently concealing the camera from the subjects or from CCTV, it is a document that carries its narrative through a static and unwavering lens.

Carter Seddon (b. 1986, San Francisco, CA) lives and works in New York. He received his MFA at the University of California, Riverside, and has presented a solo exhibition at Jenny's, Los Angeles, along with group exhibitions at Jimmy Hoo, Brussels; Silberkuppe, Berlin; Off Vendome, New York; and Night Gallery, Los Angeles.

Gina Fischli (b. 1991, Zurich, Switzerland) lives and works in London. She recently completed her degree at the RA Schools, Royal Academy of Arts, London (2015-2018). Past exhibitions include Her Gallery, London; DELF, Vienna; Zak’S, New York; Greatorex, London; and Forde, Geneva.

John Miller (b. 1954, Cleveland, OH) lives and works in New York, NY and Berlin. He attended the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island, 1977, BFA; Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program, New York, 1978; and California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, California, 1979, MFA. He has presented numerous exhibitions at institutions and galleries worldwide, and is the author of several publications and essays.

Nina Könnemann (b. 1971, Bonn, Germany) lives and works in Berlin. She attended Hochschule for Bildende Künste, Hamburg. Her work has been shown in several international exhibitions including at House of Gaga, Mexico D.F. and Los Angeles; Kunstverein Cologne; Haus der Kunst, Munich; Nürnberger Kunstverein; Künstlerhaus Stuttgart; Portikus, Frankfurt am Main; Cubitt, London; and Kunstverein Hamburg.

Yuki Kimura (b. 1971, Kyoto, Japan) lives and works in Berlin. She completed her graduate studies at Kyoto City University of Arts in 1996. She has presented several solo and group exhibitions internationally, including CCA Wattis, San Francisco; Museum of Modern Art, New York; 30th Sao Paulo Biennial, Brazil; National Museum of Art, Osaka; Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo; and Mori Art Museum, Tokyo.

Zac Segbedzi (b. 1991, Melbourne, Australia) lives and works in Melbourne. He received his BFA at Victorian College of the Arts, Australia. Recent solo exhibitions include Westspace, Melbourne; Bonny Poon; Paris; and Suicidal Oil Piglet, Melbourne, and he has participated in group exhibitions at Schloss, Oslo; Pet Projects, Perth; and Interstate Projects, Brooklyn.