On view May 5, 2019 – January 5, 2020
Hamilton, N.J.: In May of 2019, Grounds For Sculpture (GFS) will present the work of multinational conceptual artist, Tallur L.N., in his first survey exhibition in the United States. On view May 5, 2019 through January 5, 2020 and filling two multi-level galleries,Interference Fringe | Tallur L.N.brings together a survey of over 25 sculptures created during the past 13 years in a range of media including found objects, appropriated industrial machines, carved stone and wood, cast bronze, and works embedded in concrete and coated in oil.
The exhibition includes the premiere of an important new work and the exhibition’s partial namesake, Fringe (2019), a towering 18’-tall site-specific installation coated in bone meal, bone char, and crushed bone, which was inspired by historic Indian temple fragments in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Also on view is the debut of a video work, Interference(2019), inaugurating Tallur’s use of film as an artistic medium. This mesmerizing slow-motion video captures smoke-like plumes of dust being beaten out of a historic rug from the collection of the Junagagh Museum in Gujart, India, and obscuring its intricate pattern.
In one gallery, works are sited on industrial scaffolding, an intervention which upends typical museum displays. While visitors are invited to walk through and ascend the structure, it intentionally obstructs views and provides partial access, thereby forcing viewers to accept multiple perspectives on the sculptures and their meaning. In another installation, Apocalypse(2010), viewers must squeeze through cage bars and are invited to deposit coins into an industrial polishing machine. Following Tallur’s careful instructions, the coins become “civilized” and are polished to the point of denuding their value.
Tallur’s practice explores the ways in which humans navigate the absurdities of a world rife with competing anxieties, desires, and fears. At a moment in our collective history when society is often at odds with itself, and the lines between reality or truth can sometimes feel arbitrary, Tallur’s work amplifies and distorts what we hold as true or sacred and illuminates paradoxes and contradictions.
Building on the rich sculptural traditions of India, he references ancient iconography, Hindu symbols, and mythology.Tallur purposefully obscures, transforms, and subverts the traditional reading of these historic referencesas he creates conceptual metaphors through the manipulation and integration/dis-integration of materials. His work acknowledges the complexity of the global world we live in and createsdynamic tension between the past and present while provoking questions about the future.
In Milled History(2014), Tallur employed termites to feed on a wooden copy of a temple figurine, then digitally scanned the remains and milled them into sandstone that mimics the wood grain of its original state. The artist relates everyday acts of consumption and digestion to the gradual effacement and loss of culture and highlights how objects can be displaced and imitated to suit preferred versions of history and politics.
The exhibition title alludes to the notion that we simultaneously carry forward and censor memories of the past, and that this subjective retelling becomes history. Tallur likens this process of collective memory and collective amnesia to two strong waves. In physics, “interference” is a phenomenon in which two waves come together. If their frequency and wavelength are in sync, they can amplify, diminish, or completely negate each other. The idea of conflicting signals speaks to the competing stories, celebration of select relics, and contradictory meanings we bestow.
A recipient of The Skoda Prize for Indian Contemporary Art, Tallur has exhibited internationally, including solo exhibitions in Germany, South Korea, India, China, and the United States. He is represented by Nature Morte (New Delhi), Gallery Chemould (Mumbai), Arario Gallery (Seoul), and Jack Shainman (New York City), and his work is in public and private collections.He received a BFA in Painting from Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts (1996), an MFA in Museology from Maharaja Sayyajirao University (1998), and an MA in Contemporary Fine Art Practice from Leeds Metropolitan University (2002). Tallur was born in Karnataka, India in 1971. He splits his time between his rural family home in Karnataka, India and the industrial urban city of Daegu, South Korea. This process of moving between cultures informs his global view and brings a fresh perspective to his daily life, politics, technology, and mythology.
Many of the works in Interference Fringe | TALLUR L.N. have been borrowed from international collections, including the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (New Delhi), the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 21c Museum Hotel, and leading private collections in India, Korea, and the United States. While the artist is well established in Asia, this will be his most significant museum exhibition to date in the United States. A 120-page full color exhibition catalogue published by Lucia | Marquand and distributed by D.A.P. is forthcoming, and an 8-minute video, including interview with the artist and process footage will accompany the exhibition.
Interference Fringe | TALLUR L.N., is organized by GFS as part of a series of projects that affirm the institution’s commitment to reflecting the diversity of its’ region and the dynamic world around it, and underscores GFS’s long history of supporting and challenging artists to make ambitious new work. It is curated by GFS Executive Director, Gary Garrido Schneider, and Associate Curator for this project, Ami Mehta. Support has been provided in part by grants from The National Endowment for the Arts, ArtWorks, Bank of America, New Jersey Department of State, Division of Travel & Tourism, Chemould Prescott Road, Marriott Princeton, and the following Exhibition Supporters: Gordon and Lulie Gund, Barbara Lawrence and Allen Laskin, and Eric P. Ryan.
GROUNDS FOR SCULPTURE(GFS), located in Hamilton, New Jersey (midway between Philadelphia and New York), is a 42-acre not-for-profit sculpture park, arboretum, and museum, founded by Seward Johnson. It combines art and beckoning spaces to surprise, inspire, and engage all visitors in the artist’s act of invention. Its collection features over 270 contemporary sculptures by renowned and emerging artists. Exhibitions rotate in six indoor galleries. Offering rich educational programs, a robust schedule of performing arts, and fun family events, it is open year-round, with extended hours in the summer. Shopping and dining options complement every visit. For hours, admission prices, and a calendar of events, visit www.groundsforsculpture.org. Stay up to date at facebook.com/groundsforsculpture.