Hisae Ikenaga/Christian Sampson February 3, 2007

Exhibition February 3 – March 3, 2007
Opening reception Saturday February 3, 6-8pm

Hisae Ikenaga
Turn Over

Mehr (Midtown) is pleased to present Turn Over, the debut solo exhibition of Madrid-based sculptor Hisae Ikenaga in New York. The show will feature four new sculptures, with accompanying sculptural drawings, and is on view from February 3 through March 3, 2007.

Turn Over exhibits a group of works whose raw materials are IKEA modular furniture, iconic design objects transformed by Hisae’s own peculiar vision. Short of traditional sculptural materials in Madrid, Hisae here works with mass-produced goods readily available through global retail chains. In doing so, she turns the common instructions for assembly on their head, and creates entirely new, startlingly ambiguous, meanings in their sculptural forms.

From the ubiquitous, ordinary objects we live with, Hisae unpacks a toolbox of questions underlying form and function. Where once were sleek lines, now are awkward folds. And where once were generic rules of manufacture, now are previously unthinkable gestures of sculptural intent. Works on paper, rendered from instruction diagrams, open new windows on the concept of “utility”.

Hisae Ikenaga was born in 1977 in Mexico City. She studied at the Escuela Nacional de Pintura in Mexico and the holds a Master’s degree from Universidad Compultense in Madrid. Hisae has had solo exhibitions at Garash Gallery, Mexico City; “La Esmeralda” Gallery, Mexico City; Prinz Gallery, Kyoto; and Casa Museo, Mexico City. She is the recipient of two Jumex Collection grants, and a Propuestas 2006 grant from Fundacion Arte y Derecho & VEGAP for the project “A distancia…”. She currently lives and works in Madrid.

This exhibition is supported by Fundacion Arte y Derecho and VEGAP. For information or exhibition images, please contact Lital Mehr at 1.212.255.0009 or lital@mehrgallery.com. Gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 10 – 6pm.

Official Website: http://mehrgallery.com