Tag: Wish Travels

WISH TRAVELS: Mike Kelley’s City 0000 @ David Zwirner Gallery

American artist Mike Kelley is the type of creative mind who has the ability to create works that seem to withstand the test of time. Unlike some whose works are based upon an era-specific trend or a fleeting fad, Kelley’s work – perhaps by virtue of its inherently humanistic approach – possesses a timeless value to it. Often pulling upon found objects to comprise his sculptures, one of Kelley’s most celebrated pieces is the one pictured here – City 0000. Currently on display at a group exhibition at New York’s David Zwirner Gallery, City 0000 poses a bright and bold contrast to the stark white walls and smooth concrete of the open space.

City 0000 depicts the fictitious city of Kandor, the birthplace of Superman on the planet Krypton. Cast in a bold, chromatic series of colors, City 0000 is made up from a translucent resin and lit by interior LED lights and the skyline is comprised of a glowing grouping of obelisks, towers, and pillars. Holding a particularly personal and special place within Kelley’s mind, Kandor reckons to his childhood in which – according to DC Comics – Kandor was a world that was miniaturized and stolen before Krypton was destroyed. For attendees of the group exhibition, City 0000 holds an even deeper value in light of Kelley’s recent death, bringing to light the melancholic juxtaposition of Kelley’s childhood imagination on display and the finite reality of the human life.

Art, City 0000, David Zwirner Gallery, Mike Kelley, Wish Travels

WISH TRAVELS: Jeff Koons “Gazing Ball” Exhibition @ David Zwirner

To say that American artist Jeff Koons is one of the most celebrated and successful artists of our day, would be an understatement. Not only has the Pennsylvania-born artist been pushed to the forefront via his individuals works through the years such as Puppy, Celebration series, his BMW Art Car and many, many more, but Koons has maintained a level of longevity and consistent relevance that is perhaps the harder facet of one’s artistic career to maintain. The latest work from Koons – appropriately titled Gazing Ball – is now on display and being housed within New York’s David Zwirner. Gazing Ball represents Koons inaugural exhibition with David Zwirner. While here in New York, we’ve been stooping through a series of galleries and creatives spaces — one of our first stops being Koons’ latest exhibition.

Koons, who often gathers much of his creative inspiration from various elements of contemporary consumer culture and modern everyday life, initiated Gazing Ball out of a retroactive look back at the mirrored spherical ornaments often found in suburban lawns in Koons childhood hometown of Pennsylvania. A relatively simple concept at first, Koons uses the spheres to explore the concept of trascendence while reflecting on the perspective of a phiiosophers gaze on life, mortality and the concept of eternality through form and ideas. Each blue-colored, hand blown gazing ball rests atop a variety of Greco-Roman antique statues that are juxtaposed alongside elements from modern society such as mailboxes and a birdbath. The concept is to present the time-and-date-centric elements of various eras against the gazing balls which seems to slide seamlessly into whichever period-setting they are displayed. Jeff Koons’ Gazing Ball will be on display at David Zwirner through June 29, 2013.

David Zwirner

525 & 533 West 19th Street

New York, NY 10011

Art, David Zwirner, Jeff Koons, Wish Travels

NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to receive updates, access to exclusive deals, and more.

© WISH ATLANTA