The Unusual Artworkof Rodney Graham

Presentation by L. Forrest Winter

Basic Info. on Rodney Graham

• From and works in Vancouver• Has done made many pieces of art over the past few

decades• Uses mediums that range from photography to film,

performance, sculpture, music, and text.

Recurring theme in his Work

• Graham enjoys making what’s simple seem quite complicated

• Often makes works “loop” continuously and not have designated stopping points

• Fixated on psychologist Sigmund Freud and very interested in psychology

Famous Video Loops

• Vexation Island (1997)• Short video in which a beached castaway gets

knocked out with a coconut• The video loops endlessly so the blow is seen over

and over

Famous Video Loops (Cont.)

• Two Generators (1984)• 4 minute loop of river water at night• Water is never seen and heard simultaneously

Famous Video Loops (Cont.)

• Coruscating Cinnamon Granules (1996)• Video of Graham burning cinnamon in his kitchen• Heat makes cinnamon crystals rise and fall, meant to

depict birth/death of galaxies

Famous Video Loops (Cont.)

• Halcion Sleep• Video of Graham being driven around Vancouver in

the back of a minivan while passed out on Halcion pills

Famous Video Loops (Cont.)

• How I Became a Rambling Man – a cowboy sings, rides off into the distance, only to come back to the same spot and sing again

• The Photokinetiscope- Graham takes LSD, rides a bike around a park, comes back to same spot, takes more LSD and repeats

Text Manipulation/Looping

• Reading Machine for Lenz

• Graham took the first 5 pages of a 19th-century novel by Georg Buchner

• He then rearranged the pages so that if you try to read it, you can never finish the first 5 pages

Photography Work

• Graham was interested in the camera obscura throughout the 70’s and 80’s

• He hung many photos upside down for display• In fact, he had a whole walk-in exhibit of upside

down photography

Recent Works

• Graham has a strong desire to not be “trapped” in a particular medium

• He spent most of 2007 working on many different kinds of paintings

Recent Works (Cont.)

• 2006 video loop “Lobbing Potatoes at a Gong”• Inspired by Pink Floyd concert where Roger Waters

flung potatoes at a gong while performing• Graham is often inspired by music, due to his second

career as a rock and roll musician

The Gifted Amateur

• Graham is into role playing, to the extent of which he created an alter ego for himself that he calls “the gifted amateur”

• His alter ego has just discovered art• Maybe it’s a way to make his art feel fresh again• or it’s a sign of developing mental problems…

Recent and Future Exhibits

• Most recent exhibit- “Rodney Graham: A Glass of Beer” in Malaga, Spain in 2008

• An exhibit in Paris, France is scheduled for later this year

• “Rodney Graham: Through the Forest” is scheduled to open in 2010 in Barcelona, Spain

Conclusion

• Overall, the major theme in the artwork of Rodney Graham is repetition and confusion

• It depicts repetition is a constant part of human life in interesting and unique ways

Sources• http://www.artinfo.com• http://www.hauserwirth.com/artists/10/rodney-graham• Humphrey, David. “New York Fax: Feb 3 ‘98.” Art Issues 52, Apr. 1998: 34-

5.• Johnson, Ken. “A Mercurial Conceptualist who Remains an Enigma.” New

York Times, 4 Nov. 2005.• Liang, Jack. “Another Day in Paradise: The Film and Video Work of Rodney

Graham.” Parachute 95, 1999: 12-19.• Miller, Barbara L. “Re-evaluating Virtual Representation.” Art Papers 28-3,

May 2004.• Steiner, Sheperd. “In the Studio with the Gifted Amateur: Rodney Graham

Practices Painting.” Modern Painters 64-9, March 2007.