The Edition

Following a year that encompassed a one-person exhibition at The Studio Museum in Harlem; special commissions for ALTER/ABOLISH/ADDRESS, an exhibition in Washington, D.C. organized by Los Angeles Nomadic Division; Prospect.3: Notes for Now in New Orleans, LA; and two one-person gallery exhibitions, Honor Fraser Gallery is pleased to present works by Glenn Kaino for the 2015 edition of The Armory Show.

Central to the presentation is a site-specific iteration of Kaino’s monumental sculpture The Last Sight of Icarus. Constructed from hundreds of cinderblocks cast in paraffin wax, The Last Sight of Icarus is a wall that diagonally bisects the gallery booth. The work raises questions about the distinction between the representation of power and its actual manifestation. Also on view will be A Shout Within a Storm, a mobile composed of more than 100 copper-plated steel arrows. An evolution of Kaino’s pin drawings, each arrow is reliant upon the other to form a resolved image. The form appears to change relative to the position of the viewer, suggesting a set of contingencies that reflects our experience of the world. As Far Away as a Minute is a patchwork of sandpaper used by various artists and artisans. Supported on a wood frame that is cantilevered away from the wall, the patchwork follows a concave curve that recalls a kite or a sail. The shape was also inspired by acoustic mirrors; the gesture of drawing together practitioners over space and time via the evidence of their labor parallels the concept of an acoustic mirror that allows people to communicate over great distances. 

 Kaino’s work often addresses ideas about the construction of history, memory, and received knowledge. His large-scale installation Bridge looks at the erosion of the collective memory of a particular event in history. In 1968, runner Tommie Smith accepted his gold medal for the 200-meter race with his fist raised in a Black Power salute and his head bowed during the playing of the national anthem. For Bridge, Kaino cast Smith’s arm with his fist clenched in the same salute. Suspended from the ceiling, a proliferation of Tommie Smith’s arms creates the form of a bridge in space, a small section of which will be presented at The Armory Show. 

 Glenn Kaino was born in Los Angeles in 1972. He received a Bachelor of Arts from University of California, Irvine in 1993 and a Master of Fine Arts from University of California, San Diego in 1996. Honor Fraser Gallery presented Kaino’s exhibition Bring Me the Hands of Piri Reis in 2012 and Labyrinths in 2015. One-person exhibitions of his work have been mounted at Grand Arts, Kansas City, MO (forthcoming in 2015); The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY (2014); LAXART, Los Angeles, CA (2010); Creative Time, New York, NY (2009); The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA (2008); Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, San Diego, CA (2006); and REDCAT, Los Angeles, CA (2004). His work has been included in thematic exhibitions such as Prospect.3: Notes for Now, New Orleans, LA (2014); ALTER/ABOLISH/ADDRESS, Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND), Washington, DC (2014); Cage & Kaino: Pieces and Performances, World Chess Hall of Fame, St. Louis, MO (2014); Meanwhile. . . Suddenly, and Then, 12th Biennale de Lyon, Lyon, France (2013); Selections From the Hammer Contemporary Collection, The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA (2011); The Artists’ Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA (2010); California Biennial, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA (2004); Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of Art, New York, NY (2004); and Blackbelt, The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY (2003). Kaino lives in Los Angeles.