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HONG KONG

Eye to Ear

Nathan Slate Joseph and Taylor Kuffner

September 26 – November 2, 2013

Nathan Slate Joseph, Silkskyroute, 2013, pure pigment on steel, 96 x 48 inches
Taylor Kuffner, Gamelatron, 2013
Nathan Slate Joseph, Sari Blossom II, 2008, pure pigment on steel, 84 x 48 inches
Nathan Slate Joseph, Suomo, 2011, pure pigment on steel, 28 x 28 inches
Taylor Kuffner, Gamelatron, 2013
Nathan Slate Joseph, Zapoteck V, 2004, pure pigment on steel, 18 x 18 inches
Nathan Slate Joseph, Baby Blue, 2010, pure pigment on steel, 30 x 10 x 9.5 inches
Nathan Slate Joseph, Punjab Mist, 2008, pure pigment on steel, 48 x 73 inches
Taylor Kuffner, Gamelatron, 2013
Nathan Slate Joseph, Personalnotes II, 2005, galvanized steel, 60 x 36 inches

About This Exhibition

Sundaram Tagore Hong Kong launches the fall season with a joint exhibition by Israeli-American painter and sculptor Nathan Slate Joseph and American sound installation artist Taylor Kuffner. Joseph is noted for his large, beautifully colored dimensional steel paintings; Kuffner creates original musical compositions using Balinese gamelans and robotic technology. This is his first exhibition in Hong Kong.

NATHAN SLATE JOSEPH, who has been an integral part of the New York School of Art for more than forty years, blurs the boundaries between painting and sculpture. Well known for his raw, tactile works that allude to issues of globalization, immigration and climate change, Joseph welds recycled steel plates into intricate, dimensional arrangements.





Joseph begins his creative process by collecting discarded steel shards. After staining them with raw pigment and acid, he exposes them to outside weather conditions. In the process, the steel acquires a unique, rich patina and varied textures. Joseph then cuts the steel plates into various shapes with an acetylene torch and then spot-welds them together. 







The rich, saturated colors of Joseph’s work reference his international roots. Born in Israel to an Austrian father and a mother whose family originated in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, he settled in New York City in the early 1960s. Much like contemporaries Frank Stella, Carl Andre and John Chamberlain, Joseph began his career by experimenting with scrap metal and other found objects. A shift toward his dramatic color palette was inspired by a visit to Mexico in the 1970s and consolidated Joseph’s contribution to the junk art movement. 





Nathan Slate Joseph has collaborated with the renowned architect Adam Tihany on multiple projects, and his work is installed at Jean Georges at the Trump International Hotel, New York; Inagiku at the Waldorf-Astoria, New York; and the Dan Eilat Hotel, Eilat, Israel. He was awarded an Art in Architecture Award from the American Institute of Architects in 2003 for his work on the Harlem Patchwork Building. 
Notable private collectors include artist John Chamberlain, singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, and chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. His paintings have been acquired by the Art in Embassies Program, Washington, DC, for United States embassies in Cyprus, Mexico and Turkey. His work was most recently acquired by the Zimmerli Museum in New Jersey.


TAYLOR KUFFNER studied ancient Balinese music while living in Indonesia. He creates site-specific installations comprising an orchestra of handcrafted percussion instruments derived from the traditional Balinese gamelan with robotic technology. Kuffner, who is deeply immersed in Balinese culture, both preserves and reinterprets traditional gamelan music.

Each installation and musical composition Kuffner creates is unique and largely determined by the layout of the site. Prior to designing an installation or writing any music, Kuffner studies the location and immerses himself in the physical space. Often for several hours at a time, and with a gong in his hands, he takes into consideration the way the sound travels through the space and how it reverberates from different angles and directions.

The organic quality of Kuffner’s sound installations is a reflection of his approach to his artistic practice. On a visit to Indonesia, Kuffner decided to enroll at the Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta and ended up settling in the village of Sewon, Bantul. There he embraced the tradition of both the gamelan and village life. After returning to the United States he was granted an artist-in-residency with the League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots in Brooklyn where he developed the concept of merging robotic technology and Balinese percussion instruments.

Kuffner’s works have been installed worldwide, including two recent exhibitions in New York City curated by Alanna Heiss, former director of the renowned P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center. He has received grants and sponsorship from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and The Trust for Mutual Understanding, New York; the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Baltimore, Maryland; and the Indonesian Foreign Ministry.

Asian Art News
Press
Asian Art News
Nathan Slate Joseph and Taylor Kuffner at Sundaram Tagore Gallery November 2013

The decision to bring together Nathan Slate Joseph's paintings and sculpture and Taylor Kuffner's elegant sound installation, a stimulating combination of traditional Balinese gamelan music and robotic technology, was an inspired one. Both artists' works have their own distinctive meditative, aesthetic, and narrative qualities, but placed together these qualities are strikingly enhanced.

蘋果日報
Press
蘋果日報
泰戈爾後人 「藝術是歷史解碼器」 October 2013

「當我們大為謙卑的時候,便是我們最接近偉大的時候。(We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility)」這是曾獲諾貝爾文學獎的印度大文豪泰戈爾(Rabindranath Tagore)讓人耳熟能詳的名句。他周遊列國,與徐悲鴻、譚雲山為友,對促進東西文化最落力,描寫也最為細膩,甚至影響中國一代詩風。個半世紀後,泰戈爾對文化融通的深層視野仍然像基因遺傳在第五代子孫 Sundaram Tagore 的血液裏。「當我曾曾祖父拿到諾貝爾文學獎後,把獎金都捐到大學去,他深信人道主義(humanity)而非民族主義(nationalism)會令世界變好。我也深受影響,藝術不是商品也不只講求美輪美奐,最重要是有沒有達到歷史解碼的功能。」Sundaram Tagore這印度大文豪之後如是說。他更侃侃而談「文化衝擊」作為自己收藏和經營事業的單一準則與品味。

大公報 (藝術賞析)
Press
大公報 (藝術賞析)
《EYE TO EAR 》視覺到聽到的體驗 October 2013

他,將廢棄鋼片漂染焊接成五彩繽紛的畫作,打造視覺感官體驗,這出自以色列與美籍畫家和雕塑家 Nathan Slate Joseph之手。他,搜集最傳統的銅鑼, 連接電腦控制的裝置,打造出獨特的聲音與旋律,這來自美國聲音裝置藝術家 Taylor Kuffner 之創。從視覺到聽覺,利用自然週遭的事物,搭配新穎先進的創作方法,兩個人將自己的作品帶到香港。

東方日報
Press
東方日報
EYE TO EAR 衝擊視聽 October 2013

藝術家除了從生活獲取靈感,生生不息的自然世界,也是激發創作力的繆思女神。像來自以色列的美籍雕塑家Nathan Slate Joseph,善於利用經受風吹雨打「處理」的立體鋼片實現創作夢;而來自美國的聲音裝置藝術家Taylor Kuffner,則喜歡利用峇里傳統樂器打造一系列能奏出天籟之音的藝術裝置。Sundaram Tagore Gallery現正上演兩位藝術家的聯展「EYE TO EAR」,置身場館,不論視覺、聽覺都能享受藝術與大自然合作的成果。

Blouin Artinfo
Press
Blouin Artinfo
Taylor Kuffner's Robot Gamelan Orchestra September 2013

At Sundaram Tagore Gallery in Hong Kong, there is an installation of gamelan, Indonesian percussive instruments, producing a soothing meditative melody. This is the work of artist Taylor Kuffner, a New Yorker who immersed himself in Indonesian music and cultural forms then experimented with robotizing gamelan.

Blouin Artinfo
Press
Blouin Artinfo
Sundaram Tagore Gallery's HK Facelift, New Show September 3, 2013

After a brief hiatus, the Hong Kong branch of Sundaram Tagore Gallery will reopen with a new look and an exciting exhibition on September 26, coinciding with the gallery's fifth anniversary in Hong Kong.

artdaily.org
Press
artdaily.org
Sundaram Tagore Gallery Set To Reopen Newly Renovated Space September 3, 2013

Sundaram Tagore announces the reopening of the Hong Kong branch following a complete interior renovation. Sundaram Tagore Gallery, located on the ground and first floor of the Lee Roy Commercial Building at 57-59 Hollywood Road, was the first international gallery to open in Hong Kong and the reopening coincides with the gallery's fifth anniversary.

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