Opening Reception: Thursday, March 21st, 6-8pm
Cristin Tierney is pleased to present a solo exhibition of new work by Simon Lee entitled MOTHER IS PASSING. COME AT
ONCE opening Thursday, March 21st and on view through Saturday, April 27th, 2013.
In his latest exhibition, Simon Lee co-opts the ubiquitous snapshot and inserts it into a dynamic setting with multi-channel video
projections, large-scale photo collages, and moving screens that circumnavigate the gallery on a custom-built track. With ties to
both cinema and theater, MOTHER IS PASSING. COME AT ONCE is a kinetic investigation into the truth behind
photography.
Throughout his years of collecting found photographs, Lee has encountered certain patterns in subject matter suggesting that
human nature, since the advent of photography, has remained unchanged. Today’s loved ones posing in front of a sunset or by the
pool on vacation are the same as the ones years ago. They have been and always will be someone’s friend or family member
attempting to immortalize a moment in time. From recording monumental experiences to documenting mundane objects,
photographs serve as proof of our shared experience and existence.
The title of the exhibition comes from the second part of Lee’s exploration into our shared history. Found letters and their fictional
responses, read aloud, serve as a soundtrack for the exhibition. “MOTHER IS PASSING. COME AT ONCE” is a telegram Lee
collected while foraging for snapshots. Concise in its prose, urgent in its delivery, and detached from its origins, the telegram, like
the anonymous photographs, teases at a narrative that can never be honestly reconstructed. Instead, the viewer is left to thread
together fragments--visual and aural--in a search for meaning and a desire to somehow connect.
Simon Lee, based in Brooklyn, is known for his work in photography, film and installation. Lee has received numerous grants and
fellowships, and his work has been exhibited and/or screened at venues such as the new Broad Museum at Michigan State, the
Brooklyn Museum, the Aldrich Museum, the Sculpture Center, the Mediations Biennial in Poznan, the Rotterdam Film Festival,
the LOOP video festival in Barcelona, and the Amakula Kampala International Film Festival, among many others.
For more information, please contact Maria Kucinski at [email protected] or at 212.594.0550.
