Terence Koh Performa 09

Terence Koh’s Untitled, a stack of thirty-three glass cases, is a striking presence in the Contemporary galleries.  Almost every case contains an artifact that’s been painted white. Some of these date back to the artist’s childhood while others are from friends and lovers, or flea markets. The sculpture is like a shrine that preserves meaningful relics from various chapters of Koh’s life. Unlike many artists, he embraces the effects of entropy and decay on his work, such as mold, or glass shattered in transit.

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Terence Koh (born China, 1977). Untitled (Vitrines), 2006. Mixed media, variable. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Peres Projects, Inc., 2008.34.

The piece is part of a larger body of monochrome work in which Koh explores the meanings of white in different cultures, ranging from purity to mourning. With its investigation of temporality and allusions to eventual death, the Brooklyn Museum’s glass stack provides an introspective counterpoint to Koh’s flamboyant public persona. (See his website) Sex and death are themes that run obsessively throughout all aspects of his work.

As part of Performa 09, Koh will be at the Brooklyn Museum on November 7th for Target First Saturday to perform Saaqiou. At 9:30 p.m., he will be performing and DJing in the Rubin Pavillion, incorporating the Rodin sculptures.

Eugenie Tsai

Eugenie Tsai

Eugenie Tsai joined the Brooklyn Museum in the fall of 2007 as John and Barbara Vogelstein Curator of Contemporary Art. With Patrick Amsellem, she organized 21: Selections of Contemporary Art from the Brooklyn Museum, a long-term installation that opened on September 19, 2008. Previously she was Director of Curatorial Affairs at P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center in Queens, New York. Prior to Joining P. S. 1 in 2005, she was an independent curator with projects for the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Berkeley Museum; and the Princeton University Art Museum. She held several positions at the Whitney Museum of American Art prior to becoming Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs. Among the exhibitions and installations she has organized are the mid-career survey Threshold: Byron Kim, 1990-2004; Robert Smithson, which received the International Association of Art Critics’ first place award for the best monographic exhibition of 2005; and for Princeton University, Shuffling the Deck: The Collection Reconsidered. Dr. Tsai received a B. A. from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and a Ph. D. from Columbia University.

Thursday, November 5th, 2009
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Contemporary Art, Event, Newly on View