House of Hot
Michael Benevento Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
May 15, 2010 – June 26, 2010

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Press Release:

Michael Benevento presents Jamie Isenstein
May 15-June 26, 2010

Michael Benevento is pleased to present House of Hot, New York based artist Jamie Isenstein’s first solo exhibition with the gallery.

Mostly known for her performance-based sculptures that test the permanence of objects, House of Hot presents a room of objects on fire. For the exhibition, Isenstein transforms various tchotchkes including cookie jars, Jell-o molds, novelty teapots and porcelain figurines into functioning oil lamps. As products of mass-production gathered through junk stores and garage sales, these objects are inconsequential and replaceable, yet made from enduring, permanent materials. Unlike candles that melt when set on fire, these oil lamps are not consumed by the flames they sustain. Drawing on Isenstein’s interest in immortality and the concept that art is supposed to last forever, these oil lamps reference the uses of oil lamps in religious establishments, burial memorials and the Olympics as a way to invoke the realm of eternity. In addition, in response to the term “nature morte”, these oil lamps are grouped in clusters of still-lifes with the flames enlivening and giving presence to the static objects.

In the back gallery, presented like a greenhouse full of plants are “Flowers of Evil” a series of photographs documenting flowers which have been officially registered with sinister names through the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN). Within each photograph are flowers or landscape scenes accompanied by markers for the flowers. Names such as Ghost Train, Anvil of Darkness and Armageddon relate the flowers to the art historical tradition of using flowers as symbols for mortality. While recalling the imagery of 16th century Dutch still-life flower paintings, Isensteins’s photographs focus on transience and mortality but punctuated by the market. Taken at showcase gardens for flower farms, the price of each flower is displayed below the name suggesting that even death is for sale.

Jamie Isenstein (b.1975 Portland, OR) lives and works in New York City. She has exhibited at Andrew Kreps (New York), Meyer Riegger Gallery (Germany), Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester International Festival (United Kingdom), Armand Hammer Museum of Art (Los Angeles) and The Kitchen (New York).

Michael Benevento Gallery is located at 7578 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90046