Adam Pendleton
shot him in the face
24 February – 14 May 17

 
<p>Adam Pendleton, <em>WE (we are not successive)</em>, 2015</p>

Adam Pendleton, WE (we are not successive), 2015

 

Opening: 23 February, 7 pm

 

American artist Adam Pendleton’s exhibition titled shot him in the face occupies the entire third floor of KW with one large-scale gesture—a wall that diagonally cuts across the exhibition space. The first sentence from the poem Albany by poet Ron Silliman functions as the exhibition’s point of departure. Pendleton appropriates the opening words of the text—“If the function of writing is to ‘express the world’“— and transforms it into monumental work spanning the entirety of the constructed wall. Layers upon layers of Pendleton’s works are also “pasted” onto the wall. These various arrangements, including posters, framed collages, and sculptural objects based on Pendleton’s extensive archival material, incorporate images from various sources—all kept within a consistently black-and-white aesthetic.

 

As a counterpoint to Pendleton’s work, the exhibition includes one of Ian Wilson’s monochromatic paintings, which were created with the conceptual aim of producing distilled, non-referential objects without metaphoric content.

 

Curator: Krist Gruijthuijsen
Assistant Curator: Maurin Dietrich

 

<p>The exhibition series <em>Ian Wilson: </em><i>Hanne Lippard, Adam Pendleton, and Paul Elliman</i> is funded by the Capital Cultural Fund, Berlin.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The exhibition Adam Pendleton: shot him in the face is generously supported by Pace Gallery, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich, Galeria Pedro Cera, Lisbon, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, where it will be presented from May 27 to September 10, 2017.</p>

 

The exhibition series Ian Wilson: Hanne Lippard, Adam Pendleton, and Paul Elliman is funded by the Capital Cultural Fund, Berlin.

 

The exhibition Adam Pendleton: shot him in the face is generously supported by Pace Gallery, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich, Galeria Pedro Cera, Lisbon, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, where it will be presented from May 27 to September 10, 2017.

 

 

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Adam Pendleton, <i>shot him in the face</i>, Installation view KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2017, Photo: Frank Sperling
Adam Pendleton, shot him in the face, Installation view KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2017, Photo: Frank Sperling
Adam Pendleton, shot him in the face, Installation view KW Institute for Contemporary Art, 2017, Photo: Frank Sperling
Adam Pendleton, shot him in the face, Installation view KW Institute for Contemporary Art, 2017, Photo: Frank Sperling
Adam Pendleton, <i>IF THE FUNCTION OF WRITING</i>, 2017, Detail, Courtesy the artist and Galeria Pedro Cera, Lissabon; <i>Dada Dancers (large study)</i>, 2017, Courtesy the artist and Pace Gallery, New York, Installation view <i>shot him in the face</i> at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2017, Photo: Frank Sperling
Adam Pendleton, IF THE FUNCTION OF WRITING, 2017, Detail, Courtesy the artist and Galeria Pedro Cera, Lissabon; Dada Dancers (large study), 2017, Courtesy the artist and Pace Gallery, New York, Installation view shot him in the face at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2017, Photo: Frank Sperling
Adam Pendleton, WE (we are not successive), 2015, face Installation view KW Institute for Contemporary Art, 2017, Courtesy the artist and Pace Gallery, New York; Photo: Frank Sperling
Adam Pendleton, WE (we are not successive), 2015, face Installation view KW Institute for Contemporary Art, 2017, Courtesy the artist and Pace Gallery, New York; Photo: Frank Sperling
Adam Pendleton, Black Dada/Column (A), 2015
Courtesy the artist and Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich; 
Ian Wilson, Red Rectangle, 1966 (reconstructed in 2008)
Courtesy the artist and Jan Mot, Brussels; Installation view KW Institute for Contemporary Art, 2017, Photo: Frank Sperling
Adam Pendleton, Black Dada/Column (A), 2015 Courtesy the artist and Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich; Ian Wilson, Red Rectangle, 1966 (reconstructed in 2008) Courtesy the artist and Jan Mot, Brussels; Installation view KW Institute for Contemporary Art, 2017, Photo: Frank Sperling