Record Lines This Summer

Magenta Plains is pumped to present Record Lines this Summer, a group show curated by Ellie Rines on view June 15 – July 27, 2016. The exhibition highlights the physical responsibilities of transit while presenting the comicality and burden of air travel.

The TSA line promises a mixture of subtle and overt humiliation. Taking off one’s shoes and belt, removing all contents from one’s pockets, and subjecting one’s body to scrutiny by a public servant are familiar parts of an elaborate process which exposes individual weakness and shortcomings. One’s compliance is not only appreciated but also mandatory. How can vacation be shorthand for freedom and at the same time a total loss of control?

In Dan Herschlein’s wall work, a belt inches off a gure’s waist. It’s unclear if the subject is taking it off or if it’s being slipped off for him. Zach Bruder’s painting is of a lone shoe, captive and suspended. Denise Kupferschmidt’s androgynous character, framed by a latticed backdrop, lifts their arms as if for a full-body scan. Marlous Borm’s crowbar sculptures suggest forced access and constrained movement. Oren Pinhassi’s elephant ear bulbs idle on the railing, slowly expanding and gradually swelling. In the center of the gallery, Dylan Bailey’s pile of unopened mail is potted in plaster, like a monument to neglected responsibility.

Loss of water, salty food, stiff seating, stiff drinks, and changing time zones. We have reached the edge of escapism.