Lisa Cooley is proud to present Frank Haines’ first solo exhibition in New York, Form is the Graveyard of Consciousness. This presentation will include abstract, geometric sculptures and works on paper. Additionally, a cassette of music composed by the artist to accompany the artworks will be offered for sale. The show begins with an opening reception from 6 until 8 pm on Friday, May 29th and continues through July 3, 2009.
Additionally, Haines will present a performance, Blood Transfusion for a Ghost at PS1/MoMA on Saturday, June 20th in conjunction with the Kenneth Anger exhibition currently on view. The performance takes its name from writings by Ezra Pound on the poetic nature of translating texts into other languages so that others may experience them anew. Blood Transfusion for a Ghost will welcome the summer solstice with four autonomous stage sets in each corner of a room, featuring Mark Beasley, Rose Kallal, Reuben Lorch-Miller, Cedar Sigo and Blanko and Noiry. This event is co-organized by Frank Haines and Kate McNamara. Other events will occur at the gallery throughout the run of the exhibition.
Frank Haines' sculptures and works on paper distill metaphysical concepts into form, drawing on a diverse inheritance of esoteric spiritual knowledge – theosophy, hermeticism, meditative concentration, alchemy and the occult sciences.
A white, resinous, gnarled, six-foot equilateral triangle hovers above its black twin, both of them dominating the exhibition. For Haines, these opposing forces – the ascending and descending triangle – represent the transitory nature of energy as it coalesces into form or dissolves back into the elements. As life energy, or consciousness, takes a physical form, it binds to matter, and cannot return or radiate out until the physical form ceases to exist.
When combined, the ascending and descending triangles create a hexagram, illustrating the reconciliation of opposites – male and female, earth and sky, the individual and the universe, matter and consciousness. They also represent of a key tenet of Hermeticism, As Above, So Below, which is to say that a change in the physical world can manifest change in the spiritual world.
Hexagrams, the flower of life and other ancient symbols also appear in Haines’ altar-size sculptures and paintings on paper. These works continue his interest in grid structures, but in an organic way – suggesting movement, vibration, and energy coalescing into form. Their watery, lustrous, surfaces derive from Haines’ interest in Egyptian creation mythology, whereby all life originates from the Primordial Waters. Every surface glistens with plaster, paint and shellac or is tinged with a teal of specific transcendental, fertile significance to the artist.
A selection of songs and treatments of triangle shaped sound waves, and triad rythymns will play during the exhibition, drawing on the tradition of Hilla Rebay’s exhibition designs, a lineage Haines identifies with. Most of this music was composed during his winter stay in Vienna and will be released as a limited-edition cassette during the show.
Frank Haines lives and works in New York and Vienna, Austria. He will have a solo exhibition at Galerie Krinzinger in Vienna in 2010 and has previously had solo exhibitions with Jack Hanley Gallery and Quotidian – both in San Francisco, and Three Walls in Chicago, Illinois. In addition, Haines stages intense, mystical performances that are frequently timed to co-inside with celestial events. He also performs music with Chris Kachulis as the duo Blanko and Noiry.
The gallery is located at 34 Orchard Street between Hester and Canal in the Lower East Side of New York City. The closest subway is the East Broadway stop of the F line. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday, from noon am to 6 pm.