INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Museum of Art will present the work of Indianapolis-based artist Lauren Zoll in an exhibition titled "Something is," which will be on display in the Carmen & Mark Holeman Gallery Nov. 16 through April 14.
A multidisciplinary conceptual artist, Zoll's past work includes video, photography, sculpture, painting, and performance as well as collections of found objects that explore the cultural associations and material limits of non-art items.
"The IMA is excited to feature the work of Lauren Zoll, who is a shining example of Indianapolis-based talent," said Amanda York, curatorial assistant for the IMA's department of contemporary art. "This exhibition showcases Zoll's multidisciplinary and experimental practice, while offering visitors a way to engage the variable artworks that comprise 'Something is'."
"Something is" features a newly commissioned body of work that explores the relationships between painting and video. Numerous large-scale paintings, videos, and a collage affixed directly to the gallery wall will form an immersive and variable installation. To create each large-scale painting, Zoll poured approximately 10 gallons of glossy black latex paint on a 4-foot by 8-foot sheet of drywall. The layers of paint cured over time and developed different textures in reaction to the various climates of the artist's studio, resulting in a sensuously textured and highly reflective surface.
Zoll began filming the glossy surfaces, focusing her camera on the dynamic, flickering, and colorful reflections that came from the surrounding environment. Some videos are carefully orchestrated and consist of the reflections of the artist's movements or collection of colorful everyday materials in her studio. In one video, Zoll mounted one of the black paintings to the roof of her car along with a video camera and captured the reflections of Indianapolis cityscape at night. Shown on LED flat screens, the videos become animated paintings that then reflect back onto the black paintings themselves, creating new abstract imagery on the surface.
"The paintings allow the viewers to see themselves, the constructed environment, and the videos - all simultaneously," Zoll said. "The paintings act in a similar way to flat panel monitors, functioning as a window to see other objects, colors, and spaces. While one is looking at the painting, they see the gallery around it."
For "Something is," Zoll drew inspiration from a range of literary and artistic sources, including the writings of French author ƒmile Zola (1840-1902), whose 1873 novel The Belly of Paris brings to life the bustling Parisian marketplace of Les Halles through obsessive description of sights, sounds, and smells. "Something is" proposes an open-ended investigation - the title itself is the start of a phrase to be completed by exhibition visitors as they interpret the foreign environment of the installation within the gallery.
Zoll will discuss her work and the exhibition during an artist talk, which will be 6 p.m. Nov. 16 in the Caroline Marmon Fesler Gallery on Floor 4. The free event will be followed by a reception 7-8 p.m.
The IMA is at 4000 Michigan Road. Call 923-1331 or visit the website imamuseum.org for more information.
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