Who Collects Clouds in the Sky?
ANYA TISH GALLERY, HOUSTON
SEPTEMBER 6 2013 - OCTOBER 19 2013
One of the most innovative handlers of her medium, New York-based, Swiss-born video artist Katja Loher returns to Anya Tish Gallery for her third solo exhibition: Who Collects Clouds in the Sky?
Unlike many video artists, Loher discards flat, rectangular screens and instead injects her films into more natural sculptural forms. The nearly seamless union of the technological and organic in the external construction of Loher’s works reflects the content of the fantastic worlds she creates, which explore the complex relationship between nature and humanity.
Loher’s parallel universes are vibrant and intricate, typically involving teams of uniformed dancers filmed before a green screen from a bird’s eye view. These pieces of choreography often portray collective efforts to prevent ecological collapse as well as processes that once took place without human involvement. Although she deals with global themes, the miniaturized presentation of Loher’s worlds, which invites close individual examination, creates a distinctive atmosphere of intimacy.
Last Supper?, a smooth white table with videos set into its surface, explores the future transformation of our diet alongside our environment: the “plate of today” displays the current nutrient content and pollinators of the produce we eat, while less organic, more heavily processed items appear in the “plate of tomorrow.” Whether the dancers in Loher’s videos portray bees in the midst of honey-making or the personification of a computer’s operating system, they underscore humanity’s shared existence with nature: a relationship that, if ecological collapse is to be prevented, will require both individual and collective effort to maintain.
Loher’s work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions including MuBE, Museu Brasileiro da Escultura, São Paulo, Brazil; MAXXI Museum, Rome, Italy; United Nations Pavilion, Shanghai Expo, China; SIGGRAPH Asia, Yokohama, Japan and Art Digital, Moscow, Russia. In January 2014 she opens a solo exhibition at Figge Art Museum, Iowa, USA. Her work is featured in many private and public collections including Perez Art Museum, Miami, Florida, USA; Credit Suisse Collection, Geneva, Switzerland; eN Arts Collection, Tokyo, Japan and Horsecross Collection, Perth, UK.
