Nancy Lupo
Nancy Lupo: Scripts for the Pageant
21 Nov 19 – 15 Mar 2020
Museum Of Contemporary Art San Diego
Works
In Medias Res, 2019
26 aluminum Koenig spheres, 4 bronze Koenig spheres (on wall), 37 miniature aluminum bench ends, 1 miniature aluminum bench, 2 miniature long aluminum benches, bars of soap, 2 aluminum dog toys, 1 garden swan, 1 bronze swan, 1 plaster swan mold (near video), 11 pieces of glassware (inside two cartons) and silver leaf
Dimensions variable
In Medias Res, 2019
26 aluminum Koenig spheres, 4 bronze Koenig spheres (on wall), 37 miniature aluminum bench ends, 1 miniature aluminum bench, 2 miniature long aluminum benches, bars of soap, 2 aluminum dog toys, 1 garden swan, 1 bronze swan, 1 plaster swan mold (near video), 11 pieces of glassware (inside two cartons) and silver leaf
Dimensions variable
In Medias Res, 2019
26 aluminum Koenig spheres, 4 bronze Koenig spheres (on wall), 37 miniature aluminum bench ends, 1 miniature aluminum bench, 2 miniature long aluminum benches, bars of soap, 2 aluminum dog toys, 1 garden swan, 1 bronze swan, 1 plaster swan mold (near video), 11 pieces of glassware (inside two cartons) and silver leaf
Dimensions variable
In Medias Res, 2019
26 aluminum Koenig spheres, 4 bronze Koenig spheres (on wall), 37 miniature aluminum bench ends, 1 miniature aluminum bench, 2 miniature long aluminum benches, bars of soap, 2 aluminum dog toys, 1 garden swan, 1 bronze swan, 1 plaster swan mold (near video), 11 pieces of glassware (inside two cartons) and silver leaf
Dimensions variable
In Medias Res, 2019
26 aluminum Koenig spheres, 4 bronze Koenig spheres (on wall), 37 miniature aluminum bench ends, 1 miniature aluminum bench, 2 miniature long aluminum benches, bars of soap, 2 aluminum dog toys, 1 garden swan, 1 bronze swan, 1 plaster swan mold (near video), 11 pieces of glassware (inside two cartons) and silver leaf
Dimensions variable (Detail)
In Medias Res, 2019
26 aluminum Koenig spheres, 4 bronze Koenig spheres (on wall), 37 miniature aluminum bench ends, 1 miniature aluminum bench, 2 miniature long aluminum benches, bars of soap, 2 aluminum dog toys, 1 garden swan, 1 bronze swan, 1 plaster swan mold (near video), 11 pieces of glassware (inside two cartons) and silver leaf
Dimensions variable (Detail)
In Medias Res, 2019
26 aluminum Koenig spheres, 4 bronze Koenig spheres (on wall), 37 miniature aluminum bench ends, 1 miniature aluminum bench, 2 miniature long aluminum benches, bars of soap, 2 aluminum dog toys, 1 garden swan, 1 bronze swan, 1 plaster swan mold (near video), 11 pieces of glassware (inside two cartons) and silver leaf
Dimensions variable (Detail)
In Medias Res, 2019
26 aluminum Koenig spheres, 4 bronze Koenig spheres (on wall), 37 miniature aluminum bench ends, 1 miniature aluminum bench, 2 miniature long aluminum benches, bars of soap, 2 aluminum dog toys, 1 garden swan, 1 bronze swan, 1 plaster swan mold (near video), 11 pieces of glassware (inside two cartons) and silver leaf
Dimensions variable (Detail)
In Medias Res, 2019
26 aluminum Koenig spheres, 4 bronze Koenig
spheres (on wall), 37 miniature aluminum bench
ends, 1 miniature aluminum bench, 2 miniature
long aluminum benches, bars of soap, 2 aluminum
dog toys, 1 garden swan, 1 bronze swan, 1 plaster
swan mold (near videos), 11 pieces of glassware
(inside two cartons), and silver leaf
Dimensions variable (Detail)
In Medias Res, 2019
26 aluminum Koenig spheres, 4 bronze Koenig
spheres (on wall), 37 miniature aluminum bench
ends, 1 miniature aluminum bench, 2 miniature
long aluminum benches, bars of soap, 2 aluminum
dog toys, 1 garden swan, 1 bronze swan, 1 plaster
swan mold (near videos), 11 pieces of glassware
(inside two cartons), and silver leaf
Dimensions variable (Detail)
In Medias Res, 2019
26 aluminum Koenig spheres, 4 bronze Koenig spheres (on wall), 37 miniature aluminum bench ends, 1 miniature aluminum bench, 2 miniature long aluminum benches, bars of soap, 2 aluminum dog toys, 1 garden swan, 1 bronze swan, 1 plaster swan mold (near video), 11 pieces of glassware (inside two cartons) and silver leaf
Dimensions variable (Detail)
In Medias Res, 2019
26 aluminum Koenig spheres, 4 bronze Koenig spheres (on wall), 37 miniature aluminum bench ends, 1 miniature aluminum bench, 2 miniature long aluminum benches, bars of soap, 2 aluminum dog toys, 1 garden swan, 1 bronze swan, 1 plaster swan mold (near video), 11 pieces of glassware (inside two cartons) and silver leaf
Dimensions variable (Detail)
In Medias Res, 2019
26 aluminum Koenig spheres, 4 bronze Koenig spheres (on wall), 37 miniature aluminum bench ends, 1 miniature aluminum bench, 2 miniature long aluminum benches, bars of soap, 2 aluminum dog toys, 1 garden swan, 1 bronze swan, 1 plaster swan mold (near video), 11 pieces of glassware (inside two cartons) and silver leaf
Dimensions variable (Detail)
In Medias Res, 2019
26 aluminum Koenig spheres, 4 bronze Koenig spheres (on wall), 37 miniature aluminum bench ends, 1 miniature aluminum bench, 2 miniature long aluminum benches, bars of soap, 2 aluminum dog toys, 1 garden swan, 1 bronze swan, 1 plaster swan mold (near video), 11 pieces of glassware (inside two cartons) and silver leaf
Dimensions variable (Detail)
Untitled, 2019, 10 soap dishes, ceramic and nail polish, Dimensions variable
Untitled, 2019, 10 soap dishes, ceramic and nail polish, Dimensions variable
Untitled, 2019, 4 niches, foam, graphite and paint,
74.9 × 44.5 × 19.1 cm (29 ½ × 17 ½ × 7 ½ inches)
67.3 × 41.9 × 19.1 cm (26 ½ × 16 ½ × 7 ½ inches)
73.7 × 40.6 × 19.1 cm (29 × 16 × 7 ½ inches)
52.1 × 31.8 × 12.7 cm (20 ½ × 12 ½ × 5 inches)
Untitled, 2019, 4 niches, foam, graphite and paint,
74.9 × 44.5 × 19.1 cm (29 ½ × 17 ½ × 7 ½ inches)
67.3 × 41.9 × 19.1 cm (26 ½ × 16 ½ × 7 ½ inches)
73.7 × 40.6 × 19.1 cm (29 × 16 × 7 ½ inches)
52.1 × 31.8 × 12.7 cm (20 ½ × 12 ½ × 5 inches)
Open Mouth, 2019, Cast aluminum, bronze and iron (16 benches and 10 ‚bones‘, one wax Koenig sphere, styrofoam and string), Each of 16: 57 x 139,5 x 67,5 cm
Open Mouth, 2019, Cast aluminum, bronze and iron (16 benches and 10 ‚bones‘, one wax Koenig sphere, styrofoam and string), Each of 16: 57 x 139,5 x 67,5 cm
Banquet
2018
Mixed media and glue on Covercraft car covers for 1994 Dodge Caravan, 1991 Geo Prism, 2005 Toyota Matrix and 2002 Chevy Blazer
Banquet2018—2019
Banquet
2018
Mixed media and glue on Covercraft car covers for 1994 Dodge Caravan, 1991 Geo Prism, 2005 Toyota Matrix and 2002 Chevy Blazer
Banquet2018—2019
Open Mouth, 2019
Cast aluminum, bronze and iron (16 benches and 10 ‚bones‘, one wax Koenig sphere, styrofoam and string)
Each of 16: 57 x 139,5 x 67,5 cm
Open Mouth, 2019
Cast aluminum, bronze and iron (16 benches and 10 ‚bones‘, one wax Koenig sphere, styrofoam and string)
Each of 16: 57 x 139,5 x 67,5 cm
Open Mouth, 2019
Cast aluminum, bronze and iron (16 benches and 10 ‚bones‘, one wax Koenig sphere, styrofoam and string)
Each of 16: 57 x 139,5 x 67,5 cm
Open Mouth, 2019
Cast aluminum, bronze and iron (16 benches and 10 ‚bones‘, one wax Koenig sphere, styrofoam and string)
Each of 16: 57 x 139,5 x 67,5 cm
The Serpentine Ramp, 2019
5 drawings: laser jet print, gesso, archival book tape and nail polish
each of 4: 57.2 × 210.8 cm (22 ½ × 83 inches)
small: 49.5 × 71.1 cm (19 ½ × 28 inches)
The Serpentine Ramp, 2019
5 drawings: laser jet print, gesso, archival book tape and nail polish
each of 4: 57.2 × 210.8 cm (22 ½ × 83 inches)
small: 49.5 × 71.1 cm (19 ½ × 28 inches)
Untitled, 2019
Oil and gesso on canvas
80.6 × 157.5 cm (31 ¾ × 62 inches)
Untitled, 2019
Oil and gesso on canvas
80.6 × 157.5 cm (31 ¾ × 62 inches)
Installation Views
Press Release
For her first solo museum exhibition, Los Angeles-based artist Nancy Lupo stages a conversation between the architecture of MCASD Downtown’s Farrell Gallery and a new sculpture, Open Mouth.
Composed of a circular arrangement of 16 cast aluminum benches, Open Mouth invites viewers to sit and engage the sculpture with their bodies. The benches approximate, in 3/4-scale, versions of benches Lupo noticed at Termini train station in Rome. While the aesthetics of most public furnishings are meant to recede behind their functionality, the odd end pieces of the Termini bench stand out for their peculiarly suggestive form, appearing alternately as a tombstone or as an enlarged tooth. If imagined from above, Lupo’s Open Mouth follows a double catenary curve to trace the diagram of an open mouth, where the curious end pieces stand in as teeth in an adult human jaw.
The title for the exhibition, Scripts for the Pageant, is shared with a poem by James Merrill. Less of a specific reference, Lupo uses language as another kind of found object, to be re-staged and re-contextualized. Alongside the installation of benches, the exhibition includes a carefully chosen selection from a series of ongoing works in photography, video, writing, and sculpture that form part of what she considers to be an archive or alphabet. Each of these pieces is brought together to construct an internal logic within the exhibition, based around rules or systems that are not always visible.
Lupo’s sculptures draw attention to our presence among everyday objects, materials, and spaces that are often overlooked. Her work explores instances of ambiguity and confusion as a slow force that is at once unsettling and full of potential. This installation prompts us to consider how we look at things, and how the spaces we inhabit affect our view of them.
Quote: https://www.mcasd.org/exhibitions/nancy-lupo-scripts-pageant