ICA Winter 2004 Exhibitions

November 10, 2003

(Philadelphia, PA)- The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) is pleased to announce four new exhibitions as it continues its 40th year of celebrating contemporary art. In the first floor galleries, ICA presents the premier east coast viewing of Yoshitomo Nara: Nothing Ever Happens. Simultaneously cute and menacing, Yoshitomo Nara's images of young children and childhood pets offer an engaging and enigmatic Pop Art for the new millennium. On the second floor, Philadelphia artist Sarah McEneaney will be featured in her first solo museum exhibition. McEneaney's autobiographical paintings draw us into her personal world with a compelling combination of intimacy, directness, and imagination. For the ICA ramp, recently announced 2004 Whitney Biennial artist Aleksandra Mir creates a subjective, evolving guide to Tokyo, a city famous for its mystery. The ICA will also present a special lobby installation of SmartWrap, a new conceptual building material that integrates the functions of a conventional wall into one composite film that can be erected in a fraction of ordinary building time.

Exhibition Walkthroughs will begin on Friday, January 23rd at 5pm. The opening reception follows from 6-8pm. ICA is open to the public, except during installation, from 12pm to 8pm on Wednesday through Friday and from 11am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $3 for adults; $2 for students over 12, artists, and senior citizens; and free to ICA members, children 12 and under, PENN cardholders, and on Sundays from 11am to 1pm. For more information, call 215-898-5911/7108, or visit www.icaphila.org.

Following are brief descriptions of each exhibition. Complete releases available by request or at www.icaphila.org/news on November 19, 2003.

Yoshitomo Nara: Nothing Ever Happens
Simultaneously cute and menacing, Yoshitomo Nara's images of young children and childhood pets offer an engaging and enigmatic Pop Art for the new millennium. Organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland and curated by Kristin Chambers, 'Nothing Ever Happens' is the first major U.S. exhibition of this Japanese artist's painting and sculpture. Nara invites us to return to a time when innocence and unruliness went hand in hand, when emotions were not expected to be filtered, when make-believe was not equated with lunacy and when the world was a fantastic and terrifying kingdom to be explored, not conquered.The exhibition catalog amplifies Nara's punk energy with contributions by Deborah Harry (Blondie), Dave Eggers, John Doe (X), Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney) and others.

Sarah McEneaney
This is the first museum survey of the work of Philadelphia artist Sarah McEneaney. McEneaney's paintings draw us into her personal world with an engaging combination of intimacy, directness, and imagination. In her rich autobiographical paintings, every detail is accounted for, but the work itself is as flat, fantastic and miniaturist as the Persian, Indian and Early Renaissance art that inspires her. Florine Stettheimer, Reginald Marsh, and Frida Kahlo come to mind, as other artists who have narrated their own lives and, in the process, depicted life conducted in and around the studio. The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog with an extended essay by exhibition curator Ingrid Schaffner and a series of short, close readings of specific paintings by various authors including the creative non-fiction writer Rob Nixon, the critic and artist Eileen Neff, and the poet Lisa Sewell.

Aleksandra Mir: NAMING TOKYO (Part III)
Mir makes artworks that take the form of social processes, collaborations and research. She is known for a playful approach to pop culture and for her commitment to the idea of the artist as a cultural facilitator, someone who brings people together. For the ICA ramp, Mir continues a subjective, evolving guide to a city famous for its mystery. NAMING TOKYO (Part III) seeks to do just that, one street at a time, in response to Westerners complaints that Tokyo has no discernible street names. As the project progresses, Mir hopes to actually begin implementing the names into common use. NAMING TOKYO was originally produced as a special commission for Palais de Tokyo, as part of the exhibition GNS: Global Navigation System, curated by Nicolas Bourriaud.

SmartWrap
SmartWrap is a concept for a new building material that integrates the segregated functions of a conventional wall, like shelter and insulation, and compresses them into one composite film that can be erected in a fraction of ordinary building time. Designed by the Philadelphia-based architecture firm KieranTmberlake and previously exhibited at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, SmartWrap will be installed in the ICA lobby with interpretive materials displayed in the Project Space.

ICA
Founded in 1963 as part of the University of Pennsylvania, ICA presents a year-round exhibition schedule that defines, analyzes, and explores the contemporary visual arts. A non-collecting museum, ICA offers one-person, thematic, and group exhibitions, including commissioned works. ICA diversifies its examination of art to include interdisciplinary work such as film, video, performance, architecture, and design. ICA plays a vital role in introducing American audiences to rising international artists and is also committed to the regional arts community. ICA has been at the forefront of contemporary art for nearly 40 years, presenting the first museum solo exhibitions of artists Andy Warhol, Robert Indiana, Lisa Yuskavage, Charles LeDray and many others.

The ICA is located at 118 South 36th Street at the University of Pennsylvania. The ICA is open to the public, except during installation, from 12:00pm to 8:00pm on Wednesday through Friday and from 11:00am to 5:00pm on Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $3 for adults; $2 for students over 12, artists, and senior citizens; and free to ICA members, children 12 and under, PENN card holders, and on Sundays from 11:00am to 1:00pm. For more information, call 215-898-7108/5911.

Images: (Top to bottom)Yoshitomo Nara, In the Cloud, 2003, courtesy of the Marianne Boesky Gallery and Yoshitomo Nara
Sarah McEneaney, Wissahickon, 2000, collection of Steven L. Schlesinger
Aleksandra Mir, Unnamed map of Tokyo, 2003, copyright Zenrin CO., LTD.
SmartWrap, 2002, Photo by Barry Halkin, courtesy of KieranTimberlake Associates, Ltd.

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