Press Release - Cristóbal Lehyt: Iris Sheets

Curated by Gabriela Rangel and Christina de León
VIP Opening/Press Preview: Tuesday, September 10, 5:00 p.m.

New York, September 5, 2013—Cristóbal Lehyt’s (Santiago, Chile, 1973) solo project, Iris Sheets, proposes an experiential encounter with the audience that is fragmented in various layers. The exhibition´s centerpiece is a gigantic snake-like, three-dimensional structure that weaves through the 1000 square foot space mimicking its architecture. Another element of the exhibition is a wall painting based on his Drama Projections series, drawings in which the artist links his fantasies with every day interactions with people. Lehyt also connects the inside with the outside through a banner hung on the south western façade of Americas Society’s building that features an image of the Chilean singer Violeta Parra, along with the text "Thanks to life for giving me so much," lyrics from her iconic song. Through his work with paintings, drawings, and photograph Cristobal Lehyt’s explores identity, figuration, and dramatic narrative.

In its many paradoxes and components Iris Sheets tackles the contradictions of an artist from the so-called periphery living in and outside his original context. Upon entering the exhibition visitors encounter what seems to be the head of a monstrous figure. Then as the visitor explores further, s/he finds that the head has been severed by a 10 foot wide by 11 foot high wall that divides the first room with the rest of the gallery area. The structure made with natural wood drenched in red Chilean wine engages the spectator’s perception of space and teases their sense of vision, smell, and touch. The body of the sculpture forms a sort of vertebrae that operates in continuity with Lehyt’s previous works—it appears as one thing and function as another, making it difficult to identify. The work will be at once abstract, yet organic in form. For Lehyt, contemporary art—specifically sculpture—game playing allows for alternative approaches to be explored, some of which may not normally be taken seriously within the traditional context of art making.

An additional element of Iris Sheets is a wall painting the artist produces specifically for the exhibition. Working in tandem with the monumental three-dimensional piece, this work is based on drawings, which the artist designates as "Drama Projections"— a psycho-analytic process that is the result of mind-numbing process of production. Begun in 2003, "Drama Projections" started as a means for Lehyt to overcome a conceptual resistance to representing the traumas of the present through portraiture. Through intensive sessions of drawing, the artist projects his own neuroses upon everyday encounters with unknown men and women on the subway, in restaurants, or on the streets of the many cities he has visited. At the end of each session, Lehyt is left with intimate works he has made, which can be viewed as characters staring in the artist’s own fiction. As Lehyt has stated, the portraits are like the “the undead in a strange limbo.” Nevertheless, these raw drawings are rarely shown and undergo various levels of mediation.

Lehyt will also hang a large banner outside Americas Society’s building southwestern façade entitled Violeta (2006). The banner features an image of the Chilean protester and folk singer Violeta Parra, along with lyrics from “Thank you life for giving me so much”.  Although Parra’s song became internationally associated to the shattered social utopias from the 1970s, the song is the mere product of the singer’s existential preoccupations rather than a programmatic piece of propaganda. Lehyt emphasizes the lack of accuracy of its present meaning by showing it as an enigmatic marker, decontextualized from history and transmitted through myths. The song’s lyrics printed on the banner also function as a comical element to be discovered by the passersby.

Iris Sheets will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue in which art historian Jaleh Mansoor (Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory - University of British Columbia) will contribute with an essay as well as Chilean writer Alejandro Zambra with a text in dialogue with Lehyt’s approach to history as repressed memory. In addition, the publication will feature an interview with Chief Curator Gabriela Rangel and Assistant Curator Christina De León, and the artist.

Cristóbal Lehyt: Iris Sheets is made possible by the generous support of the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, Boris Hirmas Said, The Tinker Foundation Inc., and ProChile. In-kind support is graciously provided by The Care of Trees, Concha y Toro, Arte al Día, and Johannes Vogt Gallery. The Fall 2013 Visual Arts Program is also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
 
About the Artist

Cristóbal Lehyt, born in Santiago, Chile in 1973, lives and works in New York City. He studied at the Universidad Católica de Chile, and later at Hunter College and The Whitney Independent Study Program in New York. His solo exhibitions include the Carpenter Center (Cambridge, MA - 2010), Fundación Telefónica Chile (2009), Künstlerhaus Stuttgart (2008), University of California Irvine (2007), and numerous others in galleries in London, Santiago de Chile, Caracas, and Mexico City. He has also participated in group exhibitions at the Mercosur Biennial (2009), El Museo del Barrio (2007), Kunsthaus Dresden (2006), the Shanghai Biennale (2004), the Whitney Museum of American Art (2003), MoCA Los Angeles (2002), among many others in New York, Madrid, Santiago, Bogotá, Caracas, Mexico City, Berlin, Vienna, Beijing, and Rio de Janeiro. He has been awarded the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship and the Art Forum Fellowship, Harvard University. Recently Lehyt’s "Drama Projections" were acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, New York. He is represented by Die Ecke, Santiago, and Johannes Vogt Gallery, New York. His work with paintings, drawings, and photographs explores identity, figuration, and dramatic narrative.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS

On View
September 10-December 14, 2013

Gallery hours:

Wednesday to Saturday
12 p.m.–6 p.m.
680 Park Avenue at 68th Street
NY, New York 10065
View map

VIP OPENING AND PRESS PREVIEW
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
5:00 p.m.

Artist Cristóbal Lehyt and Chief Curator and Director of Visual Arts at Americas Society Gabriela Rangel will host members, donors, and the media.

GENERAL OPENING
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
7:30 p.m.

EXHIBITION TOUR WITH CRISTÓBAL LEHYT
Monday, October 07, 2013
6:30 p.m.

The artist will lead a guided tour of his installation Iris Sheets with Chief Curator Gabriela Rangel.

MEMBERS-ONLY EXHIBITION TOUR WITH CRISTÓBAL LEHYT
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
6:30 p.m.

The artist will lead a guided tour of his installation Iris Sheets with Chief Curator Gabriela Rangel and Assistant Curator Christina de León.

EXHIBITION TOUR WITH CRISTÓBAL LEHYT
Thursday, December 5, 2013
6:30 p.m.

The artist will lead a guided tour of his installation Iris Sheets with Assistant Curator Christina de León.

Press Inquiries: Contact Adriana La Rotta at alarotta@as-coa.org or 1-212-277-8384.

Americas Society is the premier organization dedicated to education, debate and dialogue in the Americas. Established by David Rockefeller in 1965, our mission is to foster an understanding of the contemporary political, social and economic issues confronting Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada, and to increase public awareness and appreciation of the diverse cultural heritage of the Americas and the importance of the inter-American relationship.

Americas Society Visual Arts program boasts the longest-standing private space in the U.S. dedicated to exhibiting and promoting art from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada; it has achieved a unique and renowned leadership position in the field, producing both historical and contemporary exhibitions.