The Green Galley is pleased to present Tokyo-based artist COBRA’s second exhibition in Milwaukee, ちょっとだけ~ Sculpture As Place, as well as a curated exhibition of new work by two of his peers, Hikari Ono and Yui Yaegashi, of whom he has a long-standing relationship through the XYZ Collective, the artist-run gallery he founded and runs. In the front room COBRA brings together three distinct bodies of work linked by way of satire in various guises. Through appropriation and irony the artist shares careful observation, craft, and self-reflexivity. Blocky birdhouses riff on American minimalism. Bird cages serve as framing mechanisms for tender, egg-themed paintings and recursive narrative devices for us as viewers to ponder our own art-viewing conditions and existence. In a photo series the artist himself supports a multiplicity of gallerists as they install the exhibition before you.
In Minimalist sculpture, presence is revealed through a reduction of visual information. By omitting figuration, narrative, and pictorial elements, the viewer is directed to perceive only color, form, and material, thereby heightening our awareness of the act of looking itself. COBRA, cutting holes in the idea Sculpture as Place, attributed to Carl Andre, transforms minimalist stacked timber blocks into Sculpture as Place for Bird. This recontextualization imbues an otherwise distanced viewing experience with humor, grounding Minimalism in more accessible cultural form. The resulting parody reinterprets a modern artworld trope as bird house.
In an escalation of COBRA’s Total Care Support series, the artist presents photo documentation of himself assisting gallery staff during installation of this show. Here the artist and gallery workers all emulate the gallery founder in outward appearance and in their labors as they work together to install COBRA’s exhibition. These images provide a behind-the-scenes vantage of the many tasks that go into preparing COBRA’s ideas for public consumption. What is a gallery without the subject that an artist provides? Has COBRA’s role as the founder of Tokyo’s longest running artist-run-gallery motivated him to share his spotlight with the gallery team who are supporting him? This theatrical consideration of the show’s production transforms the exhibition and its participants into set, props, and player, and invites visitors into the fold.
Story of Eggs employs a metalinguistic humor. These works suggest fictional avian audiences engaging with the artist's most recent paintings. Often romantic, sometimes seductive in their depiction, the paintings become props housed within readymade birdcages. In a very real way, the works demonstrate how context affects our understanding of pictures. Story of Eggs also envisions what an audience can be, making artworks accessible to non-humans. These objects investigate viewership as artistic material, turning introspection into performance.
The inclusion of Hikari Ono and Yui Yaegashi’s new, small, stunning abstract pieces as a focused two person exhibition in context of COBRA’s show exemplifies how the artist’s interests reach beyond his own authorship and spreads into his community. Ono’s work is presented in collaboration with XYZ Collective, and Yaegashi in collaboration with Misako & Rosen.
COBRA presents a dynamic pull. Irony reveals something deeply endearering, humor posits empathy, exaggeration has a kind of grace to it. His work is accessible and smart. COBRA reveals what connection can be between people and objects; he shares his insight into the overlooked, even the neglected; he opens up space and rethinks accessibility. This exhibition is comedy, yes—but his intention lies in something unanswerable. COBRA is presenting a paradox that leads to compassion towards our surroundings, humor, and humanity.
Please join for an opening reception with the artist on Wednesday, July 23rd from 5-7pm.ちょっとだけ~ Sculpture As Place will be on view through Saturday, September 6th.