Press release, August 2021
Excess and Surplus
– a duo presentation of Anna Holtz and Bat-Ami Rivlin
Anna Holtz and Bat-Ami Rivlin use unwanted or presumably unusable materials as their artistic medium. While Holtz uses leftover materials to mimic residue, Rivlin decontetualizes scavenged or surplus objects. Exhibiting artworks retain the function of wasted containers and matter left behind – often in reference to the body.
Using mud as a motif, Mudsense (G) (2017) by Holtz is a hanging sculpture of textile covered in bitumen; the viscous liquid is stuck in a dripping, draping, or its previously dipped formation. Structurally resembling a non-functioning basket, Untitled (ID) (2019) is formed with supporting wire and string components. In the basement lies Untitled (500 Bedpans) (2021), an installation by Rivlin consisting of kidney basins used to receive discharge or medical waste. Rivlin believes that an object is created with an innate relationship to the body. The artist manipulates objecthood by configuring the basins to follow the curve of the piece last situated. Gravity pulls down Holtz’s plastic mud works correlating to the flattened light installation Untitled (LED, cord, duct tape) (2021) by Rivlin, that is affixed to the main gallery floor to activate the bottom level. This exhibition presents recurring notions of discarded, collected, and altered substances while also suggesting their disembodiment. Visually the repeating curvatures that cup and circle seem to hold although there is nothing contained.
Anna Holtz lives and works in Stuttgart (DE) and Vienna (AT) and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Recent exhibitions of her work include Georg Kargl Gallery, Vienna (2020), Galerie der Stadt Schwaz (2019) and Schleuse, Vienna (2018).
Bat-Ami Rivlin is a New York-based sculptor. She holds an MFA from Columbia University School of the Arts (2019), and a BFA from School of Visual Arts, New York (2016). Rivlin was most recently a NADA House Governor’s Island Residency Fellow (2020) and is currently an A.I.R. Gallery Fellow (2020-2021). Her work has been most recently included in venues such as Anonymous Gallery, New York (2021); Susan Inglett, New York (2021); Miriam Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (2021); Public Swim, New York (2020); New York Live Arts, New York (2020); PS122 Gallery, New York (2020); M 2 3, New York (2020); Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami (2019); and the Jewish Museum, New York (2019). Rivlin was the subject of a solo exhibition 'No Can Do' at M 2 3, New York (2021) and ‘It All Trembles’ at NARS Foundation, Brooklyn, NY (2019).
Opening: Friday August 6, 2021. From 4 to 8 pm
Exhibition period: August 6 - September 10, 2021.
Opening hours: Open by appointment (info@sharpprojects.net).