Eliana Willis

“Mernet Larsen”at James Cohan Gallerythrough January 23, 2021
What the gallery says: “For over six decades, Mernet Larsen has created narrative paintings depicting hard-edged, enigmatic characters that inhabit an uncanny parallel world filled with tension and wry humor. Larsen employs various spatial systems that often contradict: combining reverse, isometric, and conventional perspectives, she casts everyday scenarios into a vertigo-inducing version of reality akin to our own.”
Why it’s worth a look: In the topsy-turvy vortex Larsen composes, the constructivist themes of El Lissitzky are pushed to an almost farcical level. In mixed-up narratives, cartoon-like characters, all hard edges and angled features, populate a world of bisecting planes and surreal situations. Every straight line, from the spokes of a wheelchair to a sidewalk crack create individual paths that traverse the canvas. Stems of flowers, stems of wineglasses, scissor blades, all are points of departure in a world turned upside down.
What it looks like: 

Mernet Larsen, Solar System, Explained (after El Lissitzky) (2020). Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery.

Mernet Larsen, Solar System, Explained (after El Lissitzky) [detail] (2020). Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery.

Mernet Larsen, Astronaut: Sunrise (after El Lissitzky) (2020). Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery.

Mernet Larsen, Astronauts: Sunset (after El Lissitzky) (2020). Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery.

Mernet Larsen, Beach (after El Lissitzky) (2020). Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery.

Mernet Larsen, Gurney (after El Lissitzky) (2019). Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery.

Mernet Larsen, Departure (after El Lissitzky) (2019). Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery.

Mernet Larsen, Intersection (after El Lissitzky) (2020). Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery.

Mernet Larsen, Deliverance (after El Lissitzky) (2020). Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery.

Mernet Larsen, Spy (after El Lissitzky) (2020). Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery.

Mernet Larsen, Dawn (after El Lissitzky) (2012). Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery.

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When it comes to making his work, the Kurdish-Iraqi artist Hiwa K has no interest in the flashiest, most expensive equipment or in expounding on the most complex theory. In fact, the artist says his measure of success is whether or not his mother can understand his work.
In an exclusive interview filmed as part of Art21’s new season, the artist explains the process of making the video The Bell Project (2007-15), which was included in the exhibition “Theater of Operations: The Gulf Wars 1991–2011” at MoMA PS1 in 2020.
In the video, the artist explains how he worked with a Kurdish man named Nazhad who owns a scrap yard. Nazhad was melting down cast-off weapons from the US and European militaries into bricks of metal, which he then catalogued and recorded, noting where and when each weapon had been brought into the country.
“These weapons are made by the West and sent to our countries,” Hiwa says in the video. “Nazhad is somehow melting it into possibilities of transformation.”

Production still from the Art21 “Extended Play” film, “Hiwa K: ‘The Bell Project.’” © Art21, Inc. 2020.

Inspired by this process of converting one object into another, the artist decided to do the opposite and melt weapons down to turn them into a church bell. In pre-industrial Europe, the reverse happened: Church bells were made into cannons for war.
“I was thinking about the circulation of materials,” Hiwa tells Art21. 
Ultimately, the artist sourced the metal bricks from Nazhad and sent them to a small Italian foundry where they were cast into a bell inscribed with Assyrian imagery. The project encompasses a complicated and fraught history related to the transfer of weapons and power, international relations, and the affect on localized businesses—not to mention the scores of individuals whose lives are affected by geopolitical wars.
“I don’t want to overdose my work with philosophy” the artist says, “When my mom understands, I am happy.”
Watch the video, which originally appeared as part of Art21’s series Extended Play, below. The brand new 10th season of the show is available now at Art21.org. 
[embedded content]
This is an installment of “Art on Video,” a collaboration between Artnet News and Art21 that brings you clips of newsmaking artists. A new series of the nonprofit Art21’s flagship series Art in the Twenty-First Century is available now on PBS. Catch all episodes of other series like New York Close Up and Extended Play and learn about the organization’s educational programs at Art21.org

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What’s the most ludicrous art-world marketing campaign of all time? Is it Maurizio Cattelan’s $120,000 banana, duct-taped to a wall at Art Basel Miami Beach? Is it the sale of Salvator Mundi, the portrait of Jesus supposedly by Leonardo da Vinci that sold for an absurd $450.3 million at Christie’s in late 2017?
Or is it the one unveiled today at Grand Central Terminal in New York?
That campaign, titled Da Vinci of Debt, is made up of a suspended mass of 2,600 authentic college diplomas provided by real college graduates across the US.
Confused? The idea is that, with the cost of an average four-year college education at about $180,000, the cumulative value of the diploma display rings in at near $470 million, surpassing the cost of the record-shattering Salvator Mundi.
Even more surprising is the force behind the show: Natural Light, the cheap and popular beer brand affectionately dubbed “Natty Light” by its fans—mainly college students drawn to its lower calorie count and, most importantly, its lower price point.

Natty Light’s “art installation.” Courtesy of Natural Light.

The brand is now in the fourth year of a 10-year, $10 million commitment to distribute $1 million annually to students and graduates “who are weighed down by the burden of debt,” said Daniel Blake, vice president of value brands at Anheuser-Busch, which owns Natural Light.
Those interested in getting some of that money must tell their story for why they attended college by March 21. Forty winners will each receive $25,000.
“College debt is one of the most important social issues in the country today,” Blake said in a phone interview with Artnet News. “More than 45 million Americans have college debt. The total debt amount is more than $1.7 trillion and is continuing to grow. We felt strongly about putting a stake in the ground and supporting those people who really need it.”
So why call the project an artwork?
“The art world is filled with absurd price tags that most people find impossible to justify,” Blake said. “That’s what made it the perfect medium for this campaign.”
The diplomas are suspended in mid-air “as if a gale of wind had just scattered all 2,600 of them throughout the cavernous, 6,000-square-foot space,” according to a press release.

Natty Light’s “art installation.” Courtesy of Natural Light. . Courtesy of Natural Light.

The installation is meant to stress the enormous scale of student debt, and the chaos it creates for those saddled with it.
Blake told Artnet News that the brand was surprised at the eager response they got from graduates who sent in their diplomas—especially considering the company never told them how the certificates would be used. (Students received $100 in exchange for “renting” their diplomas.)
As part of the stunt, Natural Light said in a release that it is “calling on the deep pockets of the fine-art world” to considering bidding “on the historic artwork.”
So is it for sale? And what about those students who temporarily leased their diplomas and are expecting them back?
“If it means giving more people the opportunity to enjoy the college experience without the debt that follows, we’re all ears,” Blake said.
“Natty is dedicated to doing everything we can to provide real solutions to college debt, and if there is a serious bidder, you know where to find us. If there is a bidder willing to pay $470 million for the piece, we’ll consult with every participant who loaned their diploma to us to see if they would be open to selling this piece.”
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Like many artists, the Brooklyn-based photographer Daniel Gordon sometimes has trouble keeping things interesting. You’d think he would have a wealth of source material since his work involves a maximalist combination of collage, photography, and sculpture—but hey, he’s only human.
In an exclusive interview aired as part of Art21’s “New York Close Up” series back in 2016, Gordon reminisced about how his approach had changed since his early days as an artist.
“Back then, I was trying to figure out what my voice was,” he says. “I really was trying to mimic reality.” Now, however, mimesis “is something that I have become less and less interested in.”
The artist, whose work looks like a cross between Matisse and Jonas Wood, builds two- and three-dimensional props from source material he finds on the internet. He photographs these tableaux—surreal still lifes populated by fish, colorful plants, and gaudy patterns—to make his lively images.
At the beginning, Gordon notes, he was trying to hide the hand-crafted aspect of his work. Now, he welcomes those cracks in the facade of perfection. 

Production still from the Art21 “New York Close Up” film, “Daniel Gordon Looks Back.” © Art21, Inc. 2016.

Like the generation from which he hails, Gordon’s work straddles two worlds: one is rooted firmly in the analog, the other fully invested in digital technologies. He describes his focus as on the “in-between things” that question the boundaries between photography, painting, and sculpture.
A new book published by Aperture—a work of art in itself—delightfully spans these mediums, featuring pop-ups of Gordon’s images. If a rut forces him to rethink his approach, he’s open to change—but “right now,” he says, “I’m just asking the questions.”

Watch the video, which originally appeared as part of Art21’s series New York Close Up, below. The brand new 10th season of the show is available now at Art21.org. 
[embedded content]
This is an installment of “Art on Video,” a collaboration between Artnet News and Art21 that brings you clips of newsmaking artists. A new series of the nonprofit Art21’s flagship series Art in the Twenty-First Century is available now on PBS. Catch all episodes of other series like New York Close Up and Extended Play and learn about the organization’s educational programs at Art21.org
Follow artnet News on Facebook:Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward. More