Press Release: Paul Pfeiffer

New Works: 03.1
03.13.03

March 13 – May 11, 2003
Brian Fridge Fort Worth, Texas
Paul Pfeiffer New York, New York
Susan Philipsz Belfast, Northern Ireland

Selected by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev

About the Artist
Paul Pfeiffer's audience feels a familiarity, a synchronicity with his work—we know the players, we know the hooks—we see ourselves. The artist's references to contemporary culture remind us that in our obsession with and our knowledge of technology we are complicit in a media takeover, whether we cherish or condemn it. In previous works—The Long Count, a three-part video installation based on footage of Mohammed Ali, and Race Riot, a video sculpture incorporating excerpts from the Chicago Bulls victory during the 1996 NBA Championship—Pfeiffer has tapped into the undercurrents of pop culture that are shaped and propounded by the digital images that make up the visual vocabulary of American life today.

Paul Pfeiffer was born in Honolulu, HI. He received his BFA from San Francisco Art Institute, CA and his MFA from Hunter College, New York, NY. Pfeiffer was awarded an MIT List Visual Arts Center Residency in 2001-2002 and was the first recipient of the prestigious Bucksbaum Award from the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY in 2000. Pfeiffer's work has been seen in solo exhibitions the Barbican Art Center, London, England Kunst-Werke, Berlin, Germany; The Project, Los Angeles, CA; and UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA. Recent group exhibitions include Out of Place: Contemporary Art and the Architectural Uncanny, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL; Graz 2003, Austria; 100 Artists See God, Independent Curators International; and The Moderns, Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy. The artist lives and works in New York, NY.

About the Project
Paul Pfeiffer's video works utilize digital manipulations to capture and decontextualize mass media spectacles, implicating the viewer in all of us. Pfeiffer's editing emphasizes particular movements to imbue the figures' actions with layered meanings—ebullience turns to rage and celebration into attack. Referencing French philosopher, Guy Debord's 1967 treatise The Society of the Spectacle, Pfeiffer's work compels the viewer to question whether media is "other" to community or if, as individuals, we are complicit in its success.

Pfeiffer continues his investigation of the spectacle of the media with three new video works. Pfeiffer alters and represents images from a pop music video, a beauty pageant, and a professional basketball game. Through the generous support of the San Antonio Spurs, Pfeiffer was granted access to the SBC Center where he filmed not only the players but the support staff. The resulting video isolates an armed security guard thus inverting one's gaze from the event itself to the peripheral action.

Exhibition Dates
March 13 — May 11, 2003

Opening Reception
Thursday, March 13, 2003, 6:30-8:30 PM

Artists' Dialogue
Friday, March 14, 6:30-8:00 PM
Featuring Brian Fridge, Paul Pfeiffer, and Susan Philipsz. Moderated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Chief Curator, Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy.

Brown Bag Lunch
Wednesday, April 9, 2003, 12:00-1:00 PM
Join us for a tour of New Works: 03.1 and a brown bag lunch provided by Pecan Street Deli. Please call ArtPace to make reservations.

Event Locations
All events held at ArtPace, 445 N. Main Avenue. Free parking at Flores Street and Savings. ArtPace is open to the public Wednesday thru Sunday, 12-5 PM, Thursday until 8 PM and by appointment. There is no charge for admission.

445 North Main Avenue San Antonio TX 78205 t 210 212 4900 f 210 212 4990 www.artpace.org