Description

Over the past decade, Jordan Wolfson has become known for his thought-provoking works in a wide range of media, including video, sculpture, installation, photography, and performance. This impressive oversize exhibition catalogue – produced in collaboration with the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam – takes two of Wolfson’s most recent installations as a focal point from which to explore themes and materials present throughout his work in all media.

With Colored Sculpture (2016) and Female Figure (2014), shown together at the Stedelijk, Wolfson brings to the fore key aspects of his work in various media. Operating somewhere between sculpture and interactive installation, these pieces rely on Wolfson’s contradictory relationship with technology to introduce animatronic and audiovisual elements to already disturbing figures: one, chained, hangs and dances from the ceiling; another is rapt in obsessive conversation with itself before a mirror. At first glance these figures seem to present a succinct view of social or technological constraint – but once they engage with viewers, turning to address gallery-goers and reciting Wolfson’s challenging narratives, the perspective becomes more complex.

With a new essay by Jack Bankowsky supported by illustrations drawn from seven of Wolfson’s most recent major works – including his critically acclaimed films Animation, masks and Raspberry Poser – and accompanied by an in-depth interview between the artist and the curatorial team of the Stedelijk Museum, this is the most important book on Jordan Wolfson’s work to date.