P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center is pleased to present Interruption of a Course of Action, the first U.S. museum exhibition for the artist duo Lovett/Codagnone. Best known for their performances, videos, and photographs that combine elements of S&M gay subculture with everyday domestic scenes, the artist team will further their ongoing exploration of power relations, as manifested in explicit cultural signifiers as well as clandestine or unconscious practices. Expanding upon their interest in the political ramifications of conflating public and private, Lovett/Codagnone's new works depart from self-reflexive strategies to address issues of collective identity and the absorption of underground tactics of resistance.
The exhibition revolves around the new video Because…Set in the desolate streets of New York, this video features a figure walking through the streets at night, reciting lines from Artaud through a bullhorn. A solo performance without an audience, it is a work examining futility and what appears to be an unheard declaration of resistance. Emanating from similar sources will be a group of performative objects, including police barricades, bullhorns, and mirrors rendered uncharacteristically black, to imply a fetishization of power in relation to a collective that must be controlled.
John Lovett and Alessandro Codagnone have been working together in New York as Lovett/Codagnone since 1995. They have exhibited and performed in public and private spaces including: The ICA, Boston; Museo Nazionale del Cinema, Turin, 2007; The Ludwig Museum, Cologne; Galleria Emi Fontana, Milan, 2006; Artists Space, New York; De Appel Centre For Contemporary Art, Amsterdam; Performa 05, Biennial of Performance, 2005; Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center, Istanbul 2004; Participant Inc, New York; TRANS>Area, New York; Neue Gesellschaft fur Bildende Kunst, Berlin, 2003; and Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2002. A monograph on Lovett/Codagnone was published by Charta in 2006.
Lovett/Codagnone: Interruption of a Course of Action is organized by P.S.1 Curatorial Advisor Lia Gangitano.