bau 19: BITS, PIECES, GOLD... AND WAITING
Egon Zippel, installation
July 8 - August 6, 2006
Opening Reception
with an introduction by the artist
Second Saturday, July 8, 2006 6-9pm
bau/beacon artist union - 161 Main Street/Beacon, NY
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"Observing life and reflecting on it has always been a great source of pleasure for me. I am mesmerized by all of it. I believe in destiny and work with chance. (This may seem contradictory, but it best describes my approach.)" So says the artist, Egon Zippel, as introduction to "BITS, PIECES, GOLD.... AND WAITING" his first solo show after a seven-year hiatus. This installation provides a lucid commentary on the quotidian: the corporate symbols which saturate our consciousness; the myriad documentation required of daily life; the commercial hyperbole foisted upon us from all quarters.
BITS AND PIECES encompass several parts:
The MMMNC-SERIES includes paintings incorporating agglomerations of corporate symbols used in a metaphoric way which appear in new combinations and constellations while different parts of each may be shown or omitted, or transformed. They combine into landscapes, orbit as planets and UFOs, try to usurp each other in pseudo-ornamental friezes, demonstrating the agility with which they can create new contexts and realities…
The LIFE/LIVE SERIES consists of visual fragments and leftovers from managing the artist’s daily life, not planned, not foreseeable, they have fulfilled a "real" purpose, and tell a lot about our daily life: bits, pieces, fragmentation: c’est la vie. When did you last have the feeling of living a "whole" life?
The TO-DO-LISTS - compiled over years and several countries, they consist of notes, scribbling in a variety of languages, diminutive sketches, stains and usage marks. The lists are on choice documents, sometimes funny, sometimes absurd: immigration papers, marriage license applications, consignment forms. At times the juxtaposition of absurdities is pretty funny, but there is also a more serious element - like a world-weary diary.
and THE BEST.
GOLD is represented by a series of gilded sculptures and objects, some derived from corporate symbols, some from a carver’s interpretation of Native American artifacts, some from … chicken bones.
WAITING: here you can see for whom, when and where the artist has been waiting during these last years.
Egon Zippel was born in Romania to German parents in 1960. Within a few years the family moved back to Germany, where he pursued humanistic studies in ancient Greek, Latin and philosophy.
After a tour in the army and graduating from the University of Mannheim in commercial design, he was awarded a Fulbright to study at Georgetown and UT, Austin in 1984. Moving to New York in 1985, he studied computer graphics at NY Institute of Technology and worked as commercial artist. In 1986 he returned to Germany and started to work and show as a conceptual artist. After living in Milan for two years, he entered into postgraduate studies at Staedel Frankfurt Art Academy/ Institute for New Media with Peter Weibel. In 1996 he came back to NY and began working in computer/marketing/design/ fashion-related projects. In 2002 he launched www.ezhelp.us, a hot-line for computer problems and personal training.
Egon joined bau in November 2005 and participated in the group shows bau12:Transition and bau13:Noise. www.egonzippel.com
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