Michael Queenland: Rudy’s Ramp of Remainders 2012/2022
January 28 - March 12,2022
From the Visual Arts Center at the University of Texas at Austin: "The Visual Arts Center at The University of Texas at Austin is proud to present Michael Queenland: Rudy’s Ramp of Remainders 2012/2022, an exhibition that revisits, reconfigures, and builds upon Queenland’s 2012 site-specific exhibition of the same name. Combining elements from the first iteration of Rudy’s with a number of new works produced for this exhibition, Queenland choreographs an iterative installation that evokes new pathways and possibilities for interpretation. Rudy’s Ramp of Remainders 2012/2022 refers directly to the global events that have transpired over the last decade—violence and trauma, and our relationship to human suffering, which is often mediated and experienced at a distance. This exhibition will be on view January 28 – March 12, 2022. Inspired by the German general store named “Rudi’s Resterampe” (roughly translated to “Rudy’s pile of leftovers”)—a surplus store that Queenland frequented while living in Berlin—the work in Rudy’s Ramp of Remainders 2012/2022 uses the structure of a warehouse, emporium, or swap-meet to create an environment for the examination of objects. This large-scale installation encompasses the entirety of the VAC’s largest gallery and juxtaposes new elements with those that formed the original installation in 2012. These items include: Afghan war rugs, plasticized balloons, silkscreened hospital bed sheets, newspaper clippings and other mundane objects as well as two new large-scale quilted works produced for this exhibition. This combination of everyday mass-produced objects alongside hand-made pieces produced by Queenland function as a kind of cultural inventory, however, in this newly configurated installation they assume new significance. In this iteration, produced a decade after the original installation at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, Queenland addresses the apprehension and isolation we are experiencing during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the necessary process of rehabilitation that has transpired during this global struggle. Queenland focuses our attention on trauma – the trauma experienced by illness and death, by persistent inequity and inequality, of war and violence, of the constancy of uncertainty, as well as our desire to mend and heal in the wake of collective trauma. This exhibition is supported, in part, by the Irvin-Loughlin Family Fund and the Fine Arts Diversity Council Guest Artist Initiative at the University of Texas at Austin. ABOUT THE ARTIST Michael Queenland (b. 1970, Pasadena, California) lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He earned his BA in English literature (1998), and MFA at University of California, Los Angeles (2002). He has had solo exhibitions at Maureen Paley, London (2019); Kristina Kite Galley, Los Angeles (2017); Santa Monica Museum of Art, Los Angeles (2012), LAXART, Los Angeles (2007); and Harris Lieberman Gallery, New York (2007). His work has been included in group exhibitions at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, Los Angeles (2020); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2019); Public Art Triennial, Los Angeles (2019); Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2019); SculptureCenter, New York (2019); Ben Maltz Gallery, Los Angeles (2018); Gordon Robichau, New York (2018); Whitney Biennial, New York (2008), among others. He is a recipient of numerous awards, including the Rome Prize (2016-2017); American Academy in Berlin Fellowship (2009); Art Matters Grant (2008); and the United States Artists Fellowship (2006). He was in residence at The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York 2004-2005. He was assistant professor of sculpture at the Yale School of Art 2010-2016. A monographic publication on Queenland's work is due to be published by New York Consolidated Press in fall 2022."
Reception: January 28, 2022 | 12-5 pm
UT Visual Arts Center (VAC)
23rd and Trinity Streets
Austin, TX 78712
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