JACK GOLDSTEIN, JAMES WELLING

Acentral figure of the “Pictures Generation”, Goldstein’s work includedfilm, performance, writing, text, painting, sound, and sculpture. Under Water Sea Fantasybegan production in 1983 and was completed before his untimely death in2003. His film reveals Goldstein’s acute understanding of theperception of spectacle and the power of image. Using production valuesinfluenced by Hollywood studio techniques, he exploits the spectaculareffects of visual presence and the interplay of sound and image. Footageof natural phenomena such as underwater life, volcanic eruptions andcelestial events is montaged into a flow of appearing and disappearingenergies with no clear narrative structure. At once serene and violent,the seductive visual impact of this film is mesmerizing. Underwater Sea Fantasy premiered in the 2004 Whitney Biennial.

Goldstein’s Portfolio of Performance documents and describes in exacting detail nine of his proposed art performances from 1976 - 1985: The Jump, Sound Performance, Two Boxers, Two Fencers, Records, The Murder, Fire/Body/Light, Body Contortionist and Burning Window. Theseperformances are cinematic in nature and parallel his film work fromthis period. They remove the artist centric nature of performances. Theportfolio serves almost as a set of instructions for additional stagingsor interpretations of the original performances, essentially renderingthe artist unnecessary to the process.

James Welling’s Jack Goldstein’s Studio isa series of images that Welling shot of Goldstein and his studio inFebruary 1977, when they both rented offices at the 506 Pacific Buildingon the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Fifth Street. Goldstein wasworking in restaurants to finance his film “Bone China” and lived inseveral offices within the building. Welling’s photographs documentJack’s sparse studio that included: a mattress, hangers, somecigarettes, photographs, 2 x 4’s and his body of work: Auphorisms, thatare taped to the wall. Welling says: “For the portrait of Jack I used avery slow film, Polaroid type 55, ASA 25. The viewer can see hiscigarette burning down itself as he remains motionless for the 30-secondexposure.” Welling’s photographs prove to be significant, as theyreveal a timeline of Goldstein’s thought process in imagery and content;photos of scuba divers, astronauts, depictions of natural phenomena, aswell as text all already exist in 1977 at the time of Welling’sdocumentation, and will ultimately emerge in Goldstein’s futurepaintings.

Jack Goldstein’s (1945 – 2003) major solo and groupexhibitions include: Gwangju Biennale, 2014; La Biennale di Venezia,2011; Whitney Biennial, 1985; documenta 8, 1985 and documenta 7, 1982;The Jewish Museum, New York, 2013; Orange County Museum of Art, NewportBeach, 2012; MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, 2009; WhitneyMuseum of American Art, New York, 2002; Magasin, Centre National d’ArtContemporain, Grenoble, 2002; Künstlerhaus, Stuttgart, 1999; The PowerPlant, Toronto, 1991; Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, 1988; StädtischeGalerie Erlangen, 1985 and The Kitchen, New York, 1977, 1978 and 1980.His work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art,New York; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York; Museumof Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California, Musee d’Art Contemporanide Barcelona (MACBA), Barcelona, Spain, The Metropolitan Museum of Art,New York New York, The Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom, Museum ofContemporary Art, Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, Vancouver Art Gallery,Vancouver, Canada and The Broad, Los Angeles, California.

JamesWelling’s major solo exhibitions include: Stedelijk Museum voor ActueleKunst in Ghent (S.M.A.K), 2017; Art Institute of Chicago, 2014;Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland and Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio,2013; Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut, 2012;Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, 1998. In 2000, the Wexner Center forthe Arts, Columbus, Ohio organized a major survey of his work, whichtraveled to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and theBaltimore Museum of Art. In 1990, the artist’s first museum exhibitionwas presented by Kunsthalle Bern.