At FIAC 2019, Sadie Coles HQ is excited to present an installation by American artist Alex da Corte, his first solo project with the gallery. THE SUPƎRMAN (2018)–first shown last year at the Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne–consists of four films in which the artist slides between impersonation and self-portraiture, housed within a psychedelic environment of free-standing screens and a chequerboard floor. In each film, Da Corte disguises himself as the rapper Eminem, facing the camera at close range and performing a distinct set of actions. The mimed performances combine into a multi-layered and visually hypnotic examination of persona, genre, appropriation and race.
TRUƎ LIFƎ, the earliest film in the group (dating from 2013), shows Da Corte–in the guise of Eminem–seated at a red table in front of a luminous green backdrop, eating a bowl of cereal. Quoting Jørgen Leth's video, Andy Warhol Eating a Hamburger (1982, part of 66 Scenes from America), the banal spectacle undercuts the poise and mystique of the Eminem brand. The action is given a political inflection by the fact that Da Corte is eating a product–Life–that has been cynically marketed to the black community: the cereal box is a vintage edition illustrated with a photograph of an African American boy. The underlying question of cultural or racial 'property' is reflected in Da Corte's semi-convincing disguise–the appropriation of Eminem's appearance and mannerisms mirrors Eminem's own controversial appropriation of a 'black' genre.
In this way, Da Corte simultaneously inhabits the persona of Eminem and distances himself from–or deconstructs–that persona. He has described the films in THE SUPƎRMAN as an attempt to identify with figure whose apparent views (specifically the rapper's homophobic, misogynistic and violent lyrics) he objects to: 'I kind of embody the persona of Eminem and dye my hair blonde and try to understand the character that he portrayed, the Slim Shady character, and try to understand and empathise with who that heteronormative, middle class white male is.' The three other films in the group, collectively titled BAD LAND (a reference to the neighbourhood of the artist's studio in Philadelphia) and dating from 2017, again show Da Corte in the role of Eminem. In one, the artist stands before an array of household products and containers–shiny readymades that evoke the high-gloss 1980s products of Ettore Sottsass's Memphis group–that have been fashioned into bongs. Against a soundtrack of dreamy acoustic music, Da Corte inhales from one of the contraptions before dissolving into laughter and standing in spaced-out euphoria.
In another film, Da Corte smears his hair with copious amounts of King mustard–a parody of excessive consumption that plays out in time to a whirring, mechanical soundtrack. In the second half of the film, he puts on a paper crown–a lo-fi anointing of himself as the King that symbolises the ascension of contemporary celebrities to the status of royals, while also invoking the 'white trash' label that Eminem has reclaimed and popularised. 'There's a lot of talk about crowns in terms of a kind of success or wealth that's acquired with a crown,' Da Corte has stated, 'particularly in the field of hip-hop. There's a lot of speaking about the throne or crown, bowing down even.' In the final film, Da Corte laboriously disentangles a jumble of PlayStation remote controls, an absurdist routine that channels the repetitive actions of Bruce Naumann or Mike Kelley–sequences that turn the desire for order on its head, transforming organisation into its own kind of chaos.
In its design, the installation reflects Da Corte's practice of creating immersive environments–often psychedelically coloured and patterned–that he has likened to Gesamtkunstwerks. Conflating the aesthetics of Pop Art and Colour Field abstraction with absurdist performance and low-brow reference, Da Corte creates an alluring micro-world that is both hermetically sealed–a capsule of formalist constructions and otherworldly routines–and politically attuned.
Alex Da Corte (b. 1980, Camden, NJ) obtained a MFA in Sculpture from Yale University, New Haven CT, (2010) and a BFA in Printmaking and Fine Arts from The University of the Arts, Philadelphia PA (2004). He lives and works in Philadelphia. Da Corte works across a range of different media including video, performance, installation, painting and sculpture. The artist has exhibited internationally, with recent solo presentations including THE SUPƎRMAN, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne (2018); Harvest Moon, New Museum, New York (2017); Slow Graffiti, Secession, Vienna (2017); 50 Wigs, HEART Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, Herning, Denmark (2016); Free Roses, Mass MoCA Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams MA (2016) and Easternsports (with Jayson Musson), ICA, Philadelphia (2014). Current and recent group exhibitions include May You Live in Interesting Times, 58th International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale, Venice (2019); Carnegie International 57th Edition, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh PA (2018); Warhol 1968, Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2018); Dreamlands: Immersive Film and Cinema Since 1905, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2017) and Taut Eye Tau, Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon, Lyon (2015).
RATES
Full-fare ticket 38 €
Reduced fare* 25 €
Children under 12: free entry
Cloakroom 2€ per item
*Students with a valid student ID- Individuals under the age of 26 (free of charge for under 12)- Louvre Jeunes, Louvre Professionels or Louvre Famille card holders
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OPENING HOURS
Wednesday, October 16th (invitation only)
Thursday, October 17th : 11am-2pm (Preview VIP)
Thursday, October 17th: 2pm-8pm
Friday, October 18th: 12pm-8pm
Saturday, October 19th
Sunday, October 20th: 12pm-7pm
Sadie Coles HQ represents these artists: