"IT’S THAT GOOD, AN INSTALLATION APPROPRIATING A 21ST-CENTURY CONSUMERIST REALITY WHILE INCORPORATING ART HISTORY AND CHALLENGING PRECONCEIVED NOTIONS OF PAINTING AND OF FLATNESS. MOREOVER, IT MAKES THE PAINTINGS MOBILE, FUNCTIONAL AND SCULPTURAL AND, AS WITH COMMERCE, THE BRAND IS IMPERATIVE."
Kristen Peterson, Las Vegas Weekly
Installation
Mall retail space, acrylic gesso, linen, oak, brass, gold leaf, wall vinyl, gold plexiglass mirrors, shopping bags, tissue paper, track lighting, photo light boxes, checkout counter, photo booth, sale associates, models, business cards, e-commerce website, instagram feed, twitter feed, facebook feed, advertisement campaigns.
P3Studio at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas Resort and Casino
July and August, 2015
From the catalog description:
Retrofit Painting (2013) is a luxury brand and conceptual art project I created to market and sell paintings crafted as objects for everyday use. The products I designed range from ready-to-wear painting shoes, bags, sunglasses, hats, and other custom accessories. In 2015 I was invited by The Art Production Fund of New York as their summer artist-in-residence at Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas Casino and Resort. There I constructed dozens of wearable stretched canvases using laser-cut oak, sewn linen, and 3D printed brass, and transformed the appearance of their art studio (positioned amongst shops and restaurants) into a high-end retail boutique. For five weeks the public was invited to browse the quasi-paintings, try them on, and even model for advertisements. It connected the ideas and motifs of minimalist painters such as Robert Ryman and Franz Erhard Walther to the commercial kitsch and experience economy of The Strip.
Within the context of Las Vegas and globalized economies beyond, Retrofit Painting utilizes minimal design, commercial advertising, and capitalist business practices to expound on and bring into question the consumption of fine art in the marketplace.
Merchandise available on the piece's website:
www.retrofitpainting.com
Retrofit Painting of Las Vegas was made possible by:
Special thanks to Casey Fremont, Kathleen Lynch, Krista Chmielewski, Justin Favela, Eric Petitti, David Ryan, Camille Dantin, Mikayla Whitmore, Darlin Frometa, Michael Maizels, Claire Whitman, Jessica Doherty, Abby Duren, Kayte Duren, Krystal Ramirez, Jesse Smigel, Jennifer Kleven, Victor Torres, Christie Lee, Audrey Barcio, Larry Knowles, David Teng Olsen, Maggie Devries, Jack Wolfe, and Wellesley College.