RELAX 2010
RELAX
Installation view
RELAX, Fords second solo exhibition at the Dolphin gallery, occupies the entire gallery. Ford’s show of paintings, photography, sculpture, and soft performance continues his interest in revealing the cultural juxtapositions that animate and manipulate politics, ideology, and psychology in America today – themes, which in turn, are activated by Carneceria Lupe’s full service taco cart and represent undocumented workers building walls within the gallery.
RELAX features works by Ford that reflect the shifting boundaries and philosophies of our global climate. Walls, both literally and figuratively are constructed and deconstructed as elaborate framing devices. Ford uses diverse media and performance elements to confront complex cultural situations from a multiplicity of angles. Contemporary images of Mecca and ROTC students are forced into dialogue with the taco cart and undocumented construction workers, blurring artistic mediums, suggesting an elaboration of concepts.
• Full press release
• ART PAPERS
RELAX, Fords second solo exhibition at the Dolphin gallery, occupies the entire gallery. Ford’s show of paintings, photography, sculpture, and soft performance continues his interest in revealing the cultural juxtapositions that animate and manipulate politics, ideology, and psychology in America today – themes, which in turn, are activated by Carneceria Lupe’s full service taco cart and represent undocumented workers building walls within the gallery.
RELAX features works by Ford that reflect the shifting boundaries and philosophies of our global climate. Walls, both literally and figuratively are constructed and deconstructed as elaborate framing devices. Ford uses diverse media and performance elements to confront complex cultural situations from a multiplicity of angles. Contemporary images of Mecca and ROTC students are forced into dialogue with the taco cart and undocumented construction workers, blurring artistic mediums, suggesting an elaboration of concepts.
• Full press release
• ART PAPERS
or Fendi whatever - 2009
Acrylic on canvas
84” x 60”
84” x 60”
Perception - 2009
Mixed Media
Variable Dimensions
“In another sculpture, Perception, 2009, Ford plays with post-9/11 America’s perception of Islam and the Middle East. He cuts a small mosque dome into a gallery wall that connects the two-room exhibition, and then installs a Persian rug underneath the dome, about five inches above the floor. In order to see through, viewers must crouch on their knees, imitating the position of the prayer in Islam.” –Alicia Eler ART PAPERS
Variable Dimensions
“In another sculpture, Perception, 2009, Ford plays with post-9/11 America’s perception of Islam and the Middle East. He cuts a small mosque dome into a gallery wall that connects the two-room exhibition, and then installs a Persian rug underneath the dome, about five inches above the floor. In order to see through, viewers must crouch on their knees, imitating the position of the prayer in Islam.” –Alicia Eler ART PAPERS
Bouquet - 2009
Mixed Media
Variable Dimensions
“In Bouquet, 2009, an assortment of broken model-airplane parts hangs from the ceiling. Ford wraps white chain- a rough, industrial-feeling material used throughout this exhibition- around the planes, letting the excess dangle to the floor. Both saccharine and crass, this piece calls to mind the litany of 2009 American airplane crashes, yet the flowerlike sculpture suggests romantic images typically associated with first dates and Valentine’s Day.” - Alicia Eler ART PAPERS
Variable Dimensions
“In Bouquet, 2009, an assortment of broken model-airplane parts hangs from the ceiling. Ford wraps white chain- a rough, industrial-feeling material used throughout this exhibition- around the planes, letting the excess dangle to the floor. Both saccharine and crass, this piece calls to mind the litany of 2009 American airplane crashes, yet the flowerlike sculpture suggests romantic images typically associated with first dates and Valentine’s Day.” - Alicia Eler ART PAPERS
Intractable Positions - 2009
Mixed Media
Variable Dimensions
Variable Dimensions
Video still
Performance documentation
“On opening night, Ford implicated viewers in American reality: he hired undocumented construction workers to build short cinderblock walls while a mariachi band played and Latino immigrants served tacos. By participating, viewers fed into U.S. complacency about hiring and exploiting cheap Latino migrant labor.” –Alicia Eler ART PAPERS
“On opening night, Ford implicated viewers in American reality: he hired undocumented construction workers to build short cinderblock walls while a mariachi band played and Latino immigrants served tacos. By participating, viewers fed into U.S. complacency about hiring and exploiting cheap Latino migrant labor.” –Alicia Eler ART PAPERS
Your Fear - 2009
Unique Photograph
55” x 57”
55” x 57”
VIP - 2009
Wood, fluorescent light, velvet rope
Dimensions variable
Dimensions variable
Negotiation - 2009
Acrylic on paper
25 3/8” x 33 1/8”
25 3/8” x 33 1/8”
Charlie Don’t Surf - 2009
Acrylic and plastic chain on canvas
84” x 84”
84” x 84”
Somewhere at Sea - 2009
Mixed media
17”h x 57”l x 16 ½”w
17”h x 57”l x 16 ½”w
Negro Jam Session - 2009
Acrylic on paper
25 1/2” x 32 7/8”
25 1/2” x 32 7/8”
