Jason Rhoades at The Brant Foundation

The Brant Foundation presents a comprehensive retrospective of effant terrible Jason Rhoades (12 November 2017 to March 2018). Paying homage to the late installation artist and his reflexive and satirical oeuvre, the Greenwich, Connecticut museum juxtaposes celebrated installations with rarely-seen sculptures. Both mediums reveal how the California native employed a wide slew of materials and material culture to critique the art world. Playing cultural hierarchies against each other, the artist would often transcend ‘high’ and ‘low’ art references through irony and biting demystification.

Remounted for this retrospective, Rhoades’ ground-breaking 1995 Whitney Biennale installation entitled My Brother/Brancuzi  features everything from spare tires, gasoline engines, various tools, and wooden crates to industrial donut machines. The spatial work alludes to both his brother’s banal suburban bedroom and the famous Romanian artist’s Parisian studio. Poking fun at the godlike reverence that artists often receive, the installation sought to equate the similarity of both references and in turn dispel the illusions that surround certain celebrities. Certain pieces simulate the cumulative nature of an artist studio and address issues of production. Other pieces touch on the immediacy of media, sex, religion, and consumption. Along with damning assessments and reflections, play remains an important aspect of Rhodes’ work. In addition to a few video works, a series of sculptures take tongue-and-cheek inspiration from French surrealist Picabia’s extensive car collection. One example, the Yellow Fiero (1994), a repurposed Pontiac Fiero, was integral to the artist’s 1994 Swedish Erotica and Fiero Parts showcase.

Jason Rhoades run till March 2018
The Brant Foundation: 941 North Street Greenwich, CT