P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center presents Leandro Erlich, New York until April 13

Exhibition Description:

P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center will be presenting an extraordinary and visually confounding installation by the Argentine artist Leandro Erlich. Known for installations that seem to defy the basic laws of physics and befuddle the viewer, Erlich introduces jarring environments that momentarily threaten a sense of balance or space. This exhibition displays one of his most well-known and critically acclaimed pieces, Swimming Pool.

Erlich has installed a full-size pool, complete with all its fittings, including a deck and a ladder. When approaching the scene from the first floor, visitors are confronted with a surreal scene: people, fully clothed, can be seen standing, walking, and breathing beneath the surface of the water. It is only when visitors enter the Duplex gallery that they discover it was a visual trick as they can see that the pool is empty.

The artist has constructed the illusion using a large, continuous piece of acrylic which spans the pool and suspends water above it. The result is both disorienting and humorous.

Leandro Erlich was born in 1973 in Buenos Aires and has been exhibiting his work internationally for over ten years, having had solo shows at the Centre d'Art Santa Mònica, Barcelona (2003); MACRO Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Roma (2006), and Le Grand Café, Centre d'Art Contemporain de Saint-Nazaire (2005).

Erlich represented Argentina at the 49th Venice Biennale (2001) with Swimming Pool, and was also featured in the Singapore Biennale (2008), Liverpool Biennial (2008), 7th Havana Biennale (2001), 7th Istanbul Biennial (2001), 3rd Shanghai Biennale (2002), 1st Busan Biennale (2002), and 26th Bienal de São Paulo (2004). He will show his work at the upcoming Prospect.1 New Orleans Biennial in 2008. Leandro Erlich lives and works in Buenos Aires.

Description:

Image: Leandro Erlich
Swimming Pool
2004
Permanent installation at the 21st Century Museum of Art, Kanazawa, Japan
masonry, swimming pool ladder, laminated glass and water
20 x 9 7/8 x 10 feet (600 x 280 x 300 cm)
© Leandro Erlich
Courtesy: Sean Kelly Gallery, New York
Photo: Don Pollard. Courtesy P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center

Full Contact Details:

P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center
22-25 Jackson Ave
46th Ave
Long Island City
Queens
Accessed by crossing the Queensboro Bridge from midtown Manhattan. It is easily accessible by bus and subway. Visitors traveling by subway should take either the E or V to 23 Street-Ely Avenue (note that the V does not run on weekends); the 7 to 45 Road-Courthouse Square; or the G to Court Square or 21 Street-Van Alst.