01 Mar 2008

The Power Plant presents Simon Starling exhibition

Simon Starling, 'Proposal for Lake Ontario-Infestation Piece/Warrior with Shield vs. The Zebra Mussel', 2005-06, collage. Collection of Thomas H. Bjarnason, Toronto.

SIMON STARLING: Cuttings (Supplement) http://www.thepowerplant.org

�Cuttings (Supplement)’ is Simon Starling's largest exhibition since winning the 2005 Turner Prize and his exhibition �Cuttings’ at Museum für Gegenwartskunst in Basel. �Cuttings (Supplement)’ features nine major works from 2002-07, including The Power Plant’s new Henry Moore-related commission Infestation Piece (Musselled Moore), that in different ways address the various ecologies that Starling's works engage. Also included is Island for Weeds–Starling’s work from the Venice Biennale in 2003 when he represented Scotland–as well as Bird in Space 2004, By Night, Nachbau, Autoxylopyrocycloboros, 24 hr Tangenziale, Tabernas Desert Run, and Los Angeles, 3rd-5th March 1969 // To indefinite expansion.

An interest in systems lies at the heart of Starling’s practice. His work explores the contemporary interdependence of cultural, political, economic, and environmental conditions, and the ramifications of such interdependence for a critically effective sculptural practice.

Working almost like a novelist, Starling’s approach embodies active narration. This tendency emerges strongly in the new commission, Infestation Piece (Musselled Moore). Evoking the heated reception to Henry Moore’s work in 1960s Toronto, the sculpture also evokes the impact of the zebra mussel, native to the Black Sea, on the Great Lakes’ ecosystem. It also reflects upon the art object at its most elemental. As in this work, Starling often melds two or more stories. The exhibition’s title plays on both the botanical practice of grafting and the idea of recovering sections that have been omitted from a story. Throughout Starling’s practice, narratives multiply, inform and are grafted onto subsequent works. �Cuttings (Supplement)’ explores these overlapping concerns, taking Infestation Piece (Musselled Moore) as its starting point.

Born in 1967 in Epsom, England, Simon Starling graduated from the Glasgow School of Art. He won the Turner Prize in 2005 and was short-listed for the Hugo Boss Prize in 2004. He lives in Copenhagen and is Professor of Fine Arts at the Staedelschule in Frankfurt. Starling has exhibited widely including the Bienal de Sao Paulo and the Busan Biennale in 2004. Recently he has made exhibitions at Villa Arson, France, MACRO, Rome, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, and Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney.

The exhibition was curated by Director Gregory Burke with assistance from Pamela Meredith and Swapna Tamhane. The commission was initiated by Reid Shier, former curator at The Power Plant. The exhibition is accompanied by a new publication, Cuttings (Supplement), with essays by Gregory Burke, Mark Godfrey, Reid Shier, and Sarah Stanners.

�Cuttings (Supplement)’ is proudly sponsored by Exclusive Presenting Sponsor BMO Financial Group; Lead Donors Jay Smith and Laura Rapp; and Support Donor Jeanne Parkin. The Power Plant gratefully acknowledges the support of the 2006 Founding Commissioners: Lonti Ebers and Bruce Flatt, Yvonne and David Fleck, The Latner Family, Phil Lind, Garnet and Evan Siddall.