Implosion 20

Anton Kern Gallery is turning twenty and we celebrate this anniversary with Implosion 20, a group exhibition featuring the work of all 28 artists on roster, as well as works by artists who have shown previously or have had a personal connection to the gallery. In addition, we will present a series of events, kicking off with a special ‘lecture’ performed by John Bock. The exhibition will mark the last show at this location before we move to Midtown Manhattan.

The show is based around the concept of  implosion, not as a destructive force but as a centering force and act of integration. From its inception 1996, the gallery has grown organically out of the dialogue between Anton and our core roster of artists. This exhibition is to pay tribute to those who have shaped the gallery’s trajectory and have made the gallery what it is today: a space of confluence for various media and artists of different backgrounds and locales.

Implosion 20 will juxtapose new works with historic pieces that became milestones in the gallery’s history. A video recording of Angus Fairhurst’s live performance (with Phillip Bradshaw, Cerith Wyn Evans and Matt Collishaw) from his two-person show with Lothar Hempel,  Low Expectations, commemorates the gallery’s opening on September 19, 1996.

The concert established the enduring interest in the intersection between visual art and music that defines the gallery and many of its participants.

During the opening reception on November 10th, John Bock will give a lecture-performance. As the first artist to exhibit at the 532 West 20th Street space, it is appropriate that he mark the closing of the space with an enactment of his piece, Dünnhutiger Butcher (Thin-skinned Butcher), a work in which Bock creates small clay portraits of members of the audience that he will give away.

A zine on Implosion 20 and the gallery’s history, featuring an essay by Bob Nickas, will be available on the occasion.