Exhibition - Car Wash from Richard Jackson at Fondation CAB

The CAB is delighted to present a new project by Los Angeles based artist Richard Jackson, a pre-eminent figure in American contemporary art since the 1970’s. Influenced by both Abstract Expressionism and action painting, Jackson explores a performative painting process which seeks to expand the potential of painting by upending its technical conventions. For Jackson, paint is not a tool used to create a representational image, but is a ubiquitous liquid which is spurted, splattered and sprayed over the surface of his installations. Since the 1990’s his proclivity towards engineering has revealed itself in a series of elaborate painting machines. Jackson’s newest installation is a fully automatic car wash, modified and designed to transform brand new cars into works of art. Soft cloth brushes on the top and sides have been replaced by a 1 ton spiked metal drum and solid metal rotating balls. The cars that come out of this machine are smashed, destroyed, and then applied with a clean coat of paint to finish it off. By destroying automobiles, Richard Jackson ‘attacks’ one of modernity’s most emblematic materialistic possessions and calls into question the values of consumer society: « I guess it’s a sort of irreverence: I think I’m always trying to change people and the way they think, so you attack their sensibilities. » (Los Angeles Times, as told to Jori Finkel, February 2013) With its clean wide-open space, the CAB offers opportunities for experimentation and is an ideal location for this project. On this occasion, an independent art venue is transformed into a production site and place of action where the artist creates through the act of destruction. « Across the history of abstract painting, pretty much every fluke has happened or been hashed out a thousand times over. Now I want to orchestrate a big mess, one serious accident. I plan on colliding complementary-colored cars and inserting wreckage into a gallery.” (Artforum, as told to James Eischen, 4 February 2013) Recent solo exhibitions include ‘New Paintings’ at Hauser & Wirth in London, the touring retrospective ‘Richard Jackson. Ain’t Painting a Pain’ which was presented at S.M.A.K., Ghent, Belgium, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich, Germany and Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA in 2013; ‘Richard Jackson. Accidents in Abstract Painting’, at the Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA (2012), and ‘Richard Jackson. Collected Works’, Rennie Collection, Vancouver, Canada (2010). Date : From 05/09/2014 to 25/10/2014 Adress : Rue Borrens 32, 1050 Ixelles (Belgium) Phone : +32 (0)2 644 34 32 Email : [email protected] Website : www.fondationcab.com