Cynthia Greig
Raoul De Keyser/David Zwirner/New York, 2015
archival pigment print
21 x 31.75 inches, edition of 5
30.5 x 44 inches, edition of 5
30.5 x 44 inches, edition of 5
Paul Kotula Projects is pleased to present Sans Souci, an exhibition of photography, video, and sculpture by Detroit artist Cynthia Greig. In this, the artist's first exhibition at the gallery, Greig muses the French phrase that translates 'without worry, free of care". Culled from several series of recent work, all of which explore highly aestheticized and idealized exhibition spaces, Greig establishes a "forensic eye to the peripheral details usually hidden from view." Absent from her images is artwork itself.
As Greig explains: In my most recent work, "Threshold", centers on how we engage with art from within the myth-making area of the contemporary art gallery's white cube. Through the subversive use of digital erasure, I remove the paintings, photographs and sculptures intended for our view, and instead place the gallery itself on display. Employing this simple shift of perspective, I reframe the context of the exhibition space as content and expose the fallacy of the gallery as a benign and neutral environment.
Greig's exhibition is installed to form parallels between her images and the architectural space of Paul Kotula Projects. In doing so, she offers viewers an opportunity to explore layers of perception and history, while also becoming part of the installation itself. At a time when the frantic pace of social media and art fairs dominate art experience, Greig reminds us of the "real" and "leisurely" experiences galleries can offer.
Cynthia Greig is an artist, curator, and writer. Her artwork has been exhibited internationally in both solo and group exhibitions and is included in the public collections of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; Eastman Museum, Rochester, NY; Light Work, Syracuse, NY; and Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA. With fellow artist and collector Cate Smith, she co-authored the book of photographs, Women in Pants: Manly Maidens, Cowgirls and Other Renegades, published by Harry N. Abrams in 2003.
Greig is a recipient of a 2015 Visual Artist Fellowship from Kresge Art Foundation. She studied printmaking at Washington University, St. Louis, earning her BFA in 1981. She later attended University of Iowa (MA in Art History) before attending University of Michigan School of Art + Design where she earned her MFA in Photography in 1995.