Johansson Projects presents Disintegrations

Disintegrations
Featuring works by: Sébastien Lapointe + Andrew Benson
October 2nd – November 13th, 2009

Artist Reception Friday, October 2nd 5 - 8PM

Technology sheds the discourse of forward progress in favor of exotic decay and hypnotic liquefaction. In this technological rebellion, synesthesia takes hold as musical albums become sculptural objects and silent films are sound waves given form.Sébastien Lapointe, artist and DJ from Montréal, remixes calcified LPs into totemic sculptures, photographing textured album spines and mounting them onto long panels. The artist transforms mass produced vinyl into fossils of what was and tantalizing omens of what will be. Straddling nostalgia and obsolescence, Lapointe recomposes the decomposed, at once melting the senses, our sense of time and the vintage pleasures of the historical record.Andrew Benson’s hypnotic video installations create phantasmagoric landscapes that stream into the viewer’s psyche. A confluence of natural rhythm, spellbinding color and filmic appropriation, the images chase themselves through a mesmerizing sea of pixilated drift. On opening night, Benson will transform a live video feed from the gallery to mediate the evening’s nebulous passage through time.

Andrew Benson is a New Media artist, performer and painter based in San Francisco. His video work has recently been featured in shows at Johansson Projects, LACMA West, Artists' Television Access and he has performed as a live video artist/director at Coachella, Outside Lands and Street Scene music festivals. He is a member of the Design & Technology faculty at San Francisco Art Institute, where he teaches classes in experimental media production. Following in the tradition of twentieth century video artists like Woody and Steina Vasulka, Stephen Beck and Nam June Paik, Benson creates interactive and recorded media works derived from a prolonged process of technological experimentation and programming combined with a painterly sensitivity to color and composition. Sébastien Lapointe's work has been included in various exhibitions in Canada (including Musée du Québec, Galerie Clark, Le Lobe, SAT, Galerie Sans-Nom) and abroad (Spain, France, United-States, Thailand). He regularly collaborates with other artists, including Gennaro De Pasquale, the Parallaxe Collective and Complot Records. Lapointe is a member of the Centre Clark as coordinator of the Postes Audio series and has been active for many years in the music world under the name DjSlap. He currently teaches at Collège Lionel-Groulx.

Johansson Projects is contemporary art gallery that functions as a curatorial laboratory, creating exhibitions that pair established and internationally-recognized artists with up-and-coming locals. Its unique space allows for simultaneous exhibitions, prompting viewers to actively engage with the gallery’s individualized environments by artists who explore the delicate mysteries embedded in modernity. With a permanently installed moss ceiling by Misa Inaoka, Johansson Projects aims to create an all encompassing art experience that serves as a catalyst for creativity and contemplation. From Jim Campell’s alarming diode videos, to Jennie Ottinger’s spectral paintings of memory to Michael Meyer’s fantastical investigations of architectural space, Johansson Projects provides a fully immersive viewing event with no show confined purely to gallery walls. Serving as a cornerstone for Art Murmur’s monthly celebrations, Johansson Projects draws hundreds of people to Oakland’s established art district, enabling curators, collectors and artists alike to connect in dynamic cultural exchange.

Johansson Projects
2300 Telegraph Ave.
Oakland, CA 94612

Kimberly Johansson
kimberly@johanssonprojects.com
510.444.9140

This release was published on openPR.