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The Armory Show

Tim Davis | Alexander Gorlizki

March 2 – 6, 2011

The Armory Show
The Armory Show

Tim Davis: The Upstate New York Olympics

The Upstate New York Olympics is Davis’ personal and often humorous investigation of the cultural impact of competitive sports. Exploring his local Hudson Valley landscape, Davis invents new sporting events, like the “Lawn Jockey Leap Frog and the “Trash Day Knife Toss,” and then performs them for the video camera. Davis’ athlete thinks he is in the Olympics but clearly lacks any competition. Shot in HD video with the thoroughness of his still photographs, the actual events are sincere attempts to interact with an underseen landscape and comic commentary on the seemingly arbitrariness of the actual Olympics. Davis acts like an athlete but doesn’t look like one, and these games often involve a healthy amount of trespassing instead of overblown pomp and circumstance. The videos, made over four seasons are shown on multiple screens, and are accompanied by a display case off editioned cast trophies for specific events.

Alexander Gorlizki: It has come to our attention

Alexander Gorlizki will transform the booth into a dynamic and transporting environment for his intricate drawings and eccentric sculptures, complete with artist designed wallpaper and carpet for his debut at the Armory Show. Gorlizki’s elaborate and sometimes subversive works combine such elements as hand-painted figures, ornamental and textile patterns and found photographs. His diverse compositions range from geometric abstractions to loosely narrative surreal scenes that offer views into layered worlds where Eastern and Western iconographies and historical references are found re-contextualized and co-mingled in a contemporary and flattened visual space.