Shrinking World, 2018
Bronze, pearls, brass chain
20 x 29 x 7 in (50.8 x 73.7 x 17.8 cm)
Bronze, pearls, brass chain
20 x 29 x 7 in (50.8 x 73.7 x 17.8 cm)
Restraint is Support, 2018
Security glass, wood, ceramic figurines, strings, rubber, wires, electrical parts, LED lighting, Mylar
36 x 22 x 14 in (91.4 x 55.9 x 35.6 cm)
Security glass, wood, ceramic figurines, strings, rubber, wires, electrical parts, LED lighting, Mylar
36 x 22 x 14 in (91.4 x 55.9 x 35.6 cm)
Entering Heaven Alive, 2018
Glass, phosphor coating, xenon
26 x 9 x 4.5 in (66 x 22.9 x 11.4 cm)
Glass, phosphor coating, xenon
26 x 9 x 4.5 in (66 x 22.9 x 11.4 cm)
The Custodian, 2018
Digital C-print, chrome frame, with Emily Shinada
13 x 18 in (33 x 45.7 cm)
Digital C-print, chrome frame, with Emily Shinada
13 x 18 in (33 x 45.7 cm)
Service Destiny, 2018
Ceramic angel figurine, miniature hand mirror
5 x 3 x 2.5 in (12.7 x 7.6 x 6.4 cm)
Ceramic angel figurine, miniature hand mirror
5 x 3 x 2.5 in (12.7 x 7.6 x 6.4 cm)
To Exist is to Survive Unfair Choices, 2018
Hand blown glass bird, Raggedy Ann doll, LED light
6 x 25 x 14 in (15.2 x 63.5 x 35.6 cm)
Hand blown glass bird, Raggedy Ann doll, LED light
6 x 25 x 14 in (15.2 x 63.5 x 35.6 cm)
You are you, and I am I, 2018
Plywood, silver and gold leaf, hinges, mirrors
11.5 x 11.25 x 11.5 in (29.2 x 28.6 x 29.2 cm)
Plywood, silver and gold leaf, hinges, mirrors
11.5 x 11.25 x 11.5 in (29.2 x 28.6 x 29.2 cm)
In the Book of Malachi and the statements of R. Shila the angel is a witness, an agent of surveillance; likewise, a recording angel in Judaic, Christian, and Islamic angelology takes account of a person’s actions, thoughts, and feelings. Divine protectors that are also observers, observers that are surveillors, surveillors that ensure the social order or other orders of support: whether monastic, cosmological, or of a physical language behind the liturgical scene.
Angels are said to leave material traces or questions of their materiality. For Duns Scotus they are immaterial, subject to a physics without body, but with the place, finitude, and laws that act on bodied, finite creatures. In depictions, they appear as desireless, genderless beings. In Islam, they are described as spirits blown into light analogously to humans, who are blown into form. They transform through civilizations to suit the particular vein of protection they are to embody.
“The inner life was like a haunted house. But what else could it be? It contained everything. Everything extraneous had been put into it. The entire history of the individual. Everything that had previously belonged to everybody, everything that had been collective property and had existed in the world in which everyone lived, had to be contained by the individual. It could not be expected that things would be quiet in the inner self.”—J. H. Van den Berg
Entering Heaven Alive is Hayley Silverman’s second solo exhibition at the gallery. Recent exhibitions and performances include Veda, Florence; Boatos Fine Art, São Paulo; MoMa Ps1, New York; Ellis King, Dublin; Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg; Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta; Liste, Basel; Chapter, NY; and New Theater, Berlin. Her work has been reviewed in Artforum, The New Yorker, BBC Radio, Art in America, Flash Art, and Art Papers, among others.
Angels are said to leave material traces or questions of their materiality. For Duns Scotus they are immaterial, subject to a physics without body, but with the place, finitude, and laws that act on bodied, finite creatures. In depictions, they appear as desireless, genderless beings. In Islam, they are described as spirits blown into light analogously to humans, who are blown into form. They transform through civilizations to suit the particular vein of protection they are to embody.
“The inner life was like a haunted house. But what else could it be? It contained everything. Everything extraneous had been put into it. The entire history of the individual. Everything that had previously belonged to everybody, everything that had been collective property and had existed in the world in which everyone lived, had to be contained by the individual. It could not be expected that things would be quiet in the inner self.”—J. H. Van den Berg
Entering Heaven Alive is Hayley Silverman’s second solo exhibition at the gallery. Recent exhibitions and performances include Veda, Florence; Boatos Fine Art, São Paulo; MoMa Ps1, New York; Ellis King, Dublin; Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg; Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta; Liste, Basel; Chapter, NY; and New Theater, Berlin. Her work has been reviewed in Artforum, The New Yorker, BBC Radio, Art in America, Flash Art, and Art Papers, among others.