[rohrpost] Multiple Personalities at Haines Gallery (San Francisco)

[amyd@hainesgallery.com]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES:
AN ONSITE / ONLINE GROUP EXHIBITION OF
ARTIST MULTIPLES & EDITIONS

December 6, 2001 - January 5, 2002

Opening Reception:  First Thursday, December 6th 5.30 - 7.30pm
Curated by: emerging curator Amy Davila

Haines Gallery is pleased to announce its first group exhibition which is
comprised solely of artist multiples and editions. This show includes work
by Marina Abramovic, Polly Apfelbaum, Joseph Beuys, George Brecht, Rob
Craigie, Michael Daines, Mark Dion, Douglas Gordon, Valery Grancher, Ann
Hamilton, Damien Hirst, Mario Hergueta, Barbara Kruger, Peter Luining,
Michael Mandiberg, MTAA, David Nash, Dennis Oppenheim, Alan Rath, Karin
Sander, Jonathan Seliger, John F. Simon, Jr., Lorna Simpson, Kiki Smith,
Fred Tomaselli, Mary Tsiongas, and Andy Warhol. The exhibition will exist
both physically and virtually, comprised of work by traditional and
experimental artists and thus emphasizing the extent of this art form's
context as a product, a concept and a methodology.

Multiple Personalities comments on the history of the multiple and addresses
the reasons behind this art form's development over time. Simply, a multiple
can be defined as an art object that is produced in a quantity of more than
one copy. However multiples are more than a technique used to produce art,
they are also "the embodiment of a theoretical standpoint in relation to the
entire artistic discipline." (Buchholz 1992) The multiple functions as a
vehicle for the transmission of ideas and as it is repeated referencing a
unique work, it becomes a denial of appearances and expectations. From the
60's to present day, "commercial culture thrives on duplication" just as
modern communication depends on repetition as seen in news media, corporate
ad campaigns, and commercial jingles, repetition is a technique used to
reiterate a message's importance and to give it validity, clarity and
strength.

Beginning in the 1960s, artists published multiples or object-editions by
themselves, Piero Manzoni created a work entitled "Merda d'Artista", which
was comprised of 100 cans of his own excrement. In New York, George Maciunas
began the production and distribution of Fluxus multiples, which were based
on the premise that art should belong to everyone by the means of mechanical
reproduction. For Fluxus artists, multiples were not only economical and
easy to distribute, but they were the best art form to present the ongoing
developments of the artists' ideas. Pop artists utilized mass-produced
objects as a commentary on consumerism, and by the latter half of the
decade, multiples became associated with the democratization of art.

Throughout history, the multiple has been seen as a vehicle for information
and way to de-emphasize the obsession and privileges of the art "object".
Utilizing the mass-distribution and communication of the Internet,
innovative printing equipment and model building software, net artists have
continued the philosophy of the art multiple to the highest degree.
Essentially, everything that is created on the net is a multiple. Technology
has given artists the means to truly dematerialize art. The digital art
multiples can be viewed on our website at www.hainesgallery.com and are
available for purchase online.

(Excerpts from Emily Rekow, Walker Art Center Department of Education and
Community Programs and Daniel Buchholz & Gregorio Magnani, "International
Index of Multiples: From Duchamp to the Present" 1992.)

For further information or materials please contact Amy Davila at
415.397.8114 or info@hainesgallery.com.  Haines Galley is located at 49
Geary Street on the fifth floor.  Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday
10:30 - 5:30 and until 7:30 on the first Thursday of each month. Visit us at
www.hainesgallery.com.