A fascination with color and materials unites Anne Lindberg’s and Mark Khaisman’s solo shows at Pentimenti. Using colored thread (Lindberg) and colored packing tape (Khaisman), the artists create bold works that draw from the history of Pop Art and Minimalism.
From a distance Anne Lindberg’s thread drawings in Chroma resemble paintings. But these studies of color are composed of vertical threads sewn into paper. Of the artist’s seven pieces, two are entirely composed of black threads. By varying their thickness and spacing, Lindberg is able to create different shades of gray and black. One of these works even follows the gradation of a value scale and resembles an art school study done as a precursor to the study of color.
With the sharp color transition between each thread and the distortion of two and three-dimensional space, each drawing vibrates with intensity. This Op Art effect appears strongest in Lindberg’s installation works (not on view), but it’s apparent that her thread drawings are studies for these larger pieces.
Like previous bodies of work, Mark Khaisman’s It is, on the other hand, a very beautiful bag, a series based on the popular, though hardly affordable, Hermes Birkin bag, also focuses on luxury goods. The show’s title is a phrase borrowed from online discussions about the ethics of buying a bag made of animal skins or furs. The artist’s use of ordinary packing tape contrasts starkly with the bag’s typical lavish surfaces and designer label. By making the cheap packing tape appear more luxurious, the work points at the possibility of finding other attractive alternatives. Khaisman’s use of light boxes to illuminate the pedestrian material completes the illusion. Each glowing image suggests the allure of advertising.
In addition to the light box pieces, Khaisman has a large sculpture of one of the bags made entirely out of duct tape. Again, there is a conflation of high and low materials with the work bringing to mind duct-tape wallets and other creations crafted with the cheap material.
In the project room space at Pentimenti, a smaller sculpture of a Birkin bag is set behind a red velvet rope and placed on a black pedestal. The installation suggests the exclusivity and status of designer labels and consumerism within the art world. With the addition of the artist’s work “Antique Serapi Rug #2” hanging on the wall and the black pedestal’s resemblance to the sacred Islamic building, the Kaaba in Mecca, the work also suggests the desire for foreign luxury goods across cultures.
Anne Lindberg’s abstract works and Mark Khaisman Pop Art influenced objects and light boxes push materials in interesting ways to continue the discussion of value and spirituality originated by artists like Agnes Martin and Andy Warhol. The show is on view at Pentimenti through April 13.
