George Kontos: Scykranes
Renwick Gallery, New York
September 8 – October 13, 2007
Renwick Gallery presents George Kontos's first solo show in New York. The exhibition "scykranes" features an animated short, drawing, sculpture, and photography.
The animated short illustrates a fictional operation taking place in the downtown area of Los Angeles by following computer-generated helicopters and distorted corporate symbols around a vacant high rise in the financial district. An array of "scykranes" take over the airspace of the corporate center while carrying large-scale objects that resemble civic-art sculptures, company trademarks, or a combination of both. The helicopters enter the vacant city center, which is controlled by ground police forces, and release the heavy objects on rooftops of high-rise corporate buildings. The camera pulls into a close-up shot of the architecture of the corporate center. The sharpness of the built space renders is as a film prop. The use of animation accentuates that feeling. The trademarks removed from their previous settings are transported to the downtown area and are dropped on the rooftops of high-rise buildings. The event taking place is recorded from cameras on the civic ground level. The helicopter plays a starring role in a scenario that is influenced by horror b-movies. The short illustrates a surreal operation taking place in the city center. It is a fictional construct of an anarchical event, reflecting a problematic society. George Kontos's concern is not to reconstruct an event that happened in the past, though referencing a collective memory of film, but to imagine one that could happen in the future using exaggerated means.
The fragments are being used in order to provide a context or a timeline in addition to or opposition to the sequel. The objects and drawings work as a counterpart for the constructed timeline, yet can interact as a broken narrative. There is no final stage of the work, usually film would operate as the final product after the construction of a script and the storyboards, however the film is constructed in a way that works by itself with no other additions. The surrounding media is either infiltrating the flow of the story by adding or subtracting.
GEORGE KONTOS was born in 1976 in Trikala, Greece, and lives and works presently in Los Angeles. He received his MFA from CalArts in 2005. His work has been exhibited in D301 Gallery at CalArts (2005), Event Gallery, London (2006), The Zoo Art Fair, London (2006), Enjoy Gallery, New Zealand (2006), REDCAT, Los Angeles (2005), and The Los Angeles Design Center (2005).
RENWICK GALLERY
45 Renwick Street, New York, NY 10013
www.renwickgallery.com
