Rochelle Goldberg
May 25–July 20, 2019
gatekeepers
Catriona Jeffries
They’ve dropped a seed to watch it grow
It’s growing at every cost
And still it breathes within this body
Because the failure of an organ, even if inherited, like an inherited condition, means the whole system has to work harder, to pump it out of collapse, to pump for the sake of its pumping
The whole system will have to start again
May endless industry keep your fields green and in return you shall produce food and flax in abundance
Growing and growing and growing and growing and growing
And an absent fire still fuels the first century, in the first cave, in the first dwelling, in the first room with four pillars, then four corners, this passage protected like the branch in the semi-desert not consumed by the flame
Rochelle Goldberg’s (b. 1984, Vancouver; lives/works: Berlin) sculpture and installation asks how we can extrapolate beyond the assumed boundaries between living entities and objects. In her work, the material and conceptual distinctions between natural systems and the built environment collapse, synthesize and reform. Goldberg’s notion of ‘intraction’ represents an in-between space, where the boundary between one entity and another is destabilized, and where the remains of encounters between multiple material and conceptual realities are articulated. Summoning historical, ecological, religious and poetic subjects, the range of her articulations has comprised ceramics, invertebrate shells, steel, celery roots, gold, carpets, chia seeds, Mary Magdalene, Mary of Egypt, brass, bronze, fish skeletons, plastics, polished metals, human hair, steam trains, pelicans, burnt matches, electrical switches, crocodile and snake skins, fibre optic light strands, and crude oil.
Recent solo exhibitions include The Power Station, Dallas, USA (2019); Casa Masaccio Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea, San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy (2018); Miguel Abreu, New York (2017); GAMeC, Bergamo, Italy (2016); and SculptureCenter, Long Island City, USA (2016). She has also been included in numerous group exhibitions, recently at Frieze Sculpture at Rockefeller Center, New York (2019); Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Canada (2019); A plus A Gallery, Venice, Italy (2018); Catriona Jeffries, Vancouver (2018); Fondation d’Entreprise Ricard, Paris (2017); Whitney Museum, New York (2016); Dortmunder Kunstverein, Dortmund, Germany (2016); The Artist’s Institute, New York (2016); and Swiss Institute, New York (2015). She was recently Artist in Residence at The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas (2018); previous residencies include Atelier Calder, Saché, France (2017); and Thun Ceramic Residency, Bolzano, Italy (2016). In 2018, Goldberg was awarded the Battaglia Foundry Sculpture Prize #03 by the Fonderia Artistica Battaglia, Milan (2018).
Documentation by Rachel Topham Photography.
