Roni Horn aka Roni Horn

Nov 6, 2009–Jan 24, 2010

For more than thirty years, Roni Horn (b. 1955) has been developing work of concentrated visual power and intellectual rigor, often exploring issues of gender, identity, androgyny, and the complex relationship between object and subject. Because the artist chooses not to privilege any one medium, Horn’s art defies easy categorization. Materials--often used with remarkable virtuosity and sensitivity--take on metaphorical qualities and relate key themes with great visual power. Horn’s interest in doubling and identity, for example, is central to understanding her approach to the genres of portraiture and landscape. Image-specific photographic portraits and ethereally beautiful abstract cast glass sculpture relay aspects of both. Similarly, Horn’s intricately cut and pigmented drawings suggest something of the elemental nature of the earth that relates in turn to how the landscape of Iceland, where Horn has traveled and made work since 1975, has informed her practice.

Throughout the exhibition’s installation at the Whitney, the integration and cross relationships among the mediums in which the artist works will be fluid, and the presentation on two floors will explore structurally the crucial concept of doubling in Horn’s work. Included in the exhibition are approximately seventy works, varying in scale from small drawings to room-sized photographic installations to sculptures weighing several tons. The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated two-volume publication: a catalogue with an introduction by the three curators, and an essay by Briony Fer, and a subject index, a second volume in the form of a glossary that is devoted to important ideas in Horn's practice or that relate to individual works.

Jointly organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art and Tate Modern, Roni Horn aka Roni Horn is the most comprehensive overview of Roni Horn’s work to date. The curators, who are working in close collaboration with Horn, are the Whitney’s chief curator and associate director for programs Donna De Salvo and curator of drawings Carter E. Foster, and Mark Godfrey, curator at Tate Modern. Following the Whitney’s presentation, it travels to The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, where it will be on view February 19–June 13, 2010.

Major support for this exhibition is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Generous support is provided by the Lannan Foundation, The James R. Hedges, IV Family Foundation, the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, and Donald R. Mullen, Jr.

Additional support is provided by Louise Bourgeois, Agnes Gund, Jennifer Stockman, Nina and Michael Zilkha, The Fifth Floor Foundation, and Elizabeth A. Sackler—JCF, Museum Educational Trust.

Artworks

Abstract work with red marks on white backdrop.

Roni Horn (b. 1955), Then 3, 2006. Powdered pigments and varnish on paper, 92 ½ x 95 in. (235 × 241.3 cm). Museum Folkwang, Essen; acquired with funds from the Alfred and Cläre Pott Foundation © Roni Horn

Abstract piece with maroon marks on white background.

Roni Horn (b. 1955), Then 4, 2006. Powdered pigments and varnish on paper, 80 × 82 ½ in. (203.2 × 209.6 cm). Collection of Karin and Roland Berger © Roni Horn

Roni Horn (b. 1955), Becoming a Landscape, 1999–2001 (detail). Twenty chromogenic prints; six prints 20 ½ x 20 ½ in. (52.1 × 52.1 cm) each; fourteen prints 30 ½ x 23 in. (77.5 × 58.4 cm) each. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Photography Committee, Director`s Discretionary Fund, Steven Ames, Kathryn Fleck, William True, and the Henry Nias Foundation 2002. 294a-t © Roni Horn

Two paneled image depicting the two birds facing backwards.

Roni Horn (b. 1955), bird (detail), 1998/2008. Twenty pigment prints, 22 × 22 in. (55.9 × 55.9 cm) each. Courtesy the artist and Hauser and Wirth © Roni Horn

Roni Horn (b. 1955), Still Water (The River Thames, for Example), 1999 (detail). Fifteen offset lithographs on uncoated paper (photographs and text), 30 1/2 × 41 1/2 in. (76.2 × 104.1 cm) each. Tate, London; presented by the American Fund for the Tate Gallery, courtesy the American Acquisitions Committee 2005, accessioned 2008 © Roni Horn

Close up photograph portrait of young girl with blue eyes and chewing gum in her mouth.

Roni Horn (b. 1955). This is me, This is you, 1998–2000 (detail). Ninety-six chromogenic prints, 12 ½ x 10 ¼ in. (31.8 × 26 cm) each. Courtesy the artist and Hauser and Wirth © Roni Horn

Roni Horn (b. 1955), Ant Farm, 1974/2007. Oak, glass, earth, and ants, 47 × 70 × 4 in. (119.4 × 177.8 × 10.2 cm). Courtesy the artist and Hauser and Wirth © Roni Horn

Roni Horn (b. 1955), This is me, This is you (detail), 1998–2000. Ninety-six chromogenic prints, 12 ½ x 10 ¼ in. (31.8 × 26 cm) each. Courtesy the artist and Hauser and Wirth © Roni Horn

Up close photograph portrait of young boy with blue eyes and blonde hair.

Roni Horn (b. 1955), You are the Weather, 1994–95 (detail). Thirty-six gelatin silver prints and sixty-four chromogenic prints, 10 ½ x 8 ½ in. (26.7 × 21.6 cm) each. Exhibition copy © Roni Horn

Roni Horn (b. 1955), Paired Gold Mats, for Ross and Felix, 1994–95. Two pure gold mats, 1/1000 × 60 × 49 in. (.002 × 152.4 × 124.5 cm) each. The Art Institute of Chicago; gift of Muriel Kallis Newman in honor of James Cuno. © Roni Horn

Aluminum and solid cast plastic pole with inscription "ALWAYS BEGINS BY DEGREES."

Roni Horn (b. 1955), White Dickinson: ALWAYS BEGINS BY DEGREES, 2006/07. Aluminum and solid cast plastic, 48 ½ x 2 × 2 in. (123.2 × 5.1 × 5.1 cm). Courtesy Hauser and Wirth © Roni Horn

Map of Iceland with inscription: "rationalists would wear sombreros."

Roni Horn (b. 1955), Rationalists Would Wear Sombreros, 1990. Ink and graphite on special-edition print from To Place: Bluff Life (New York: Peter Blum Edition, 1990), 10 × 12 in. (25.4 × 30.5 cm) Collection of the artist © Roni Horn

Two photographs of a person's face up close.

Roni Horn, Becoming a Landscape, 1999–2001 (detail). Twenty chromogenic prints, six prints 20 1/2 x 20 1/2 in. (52.1 x 52.1 cm) each, fourteen prints 30 1/2 x 23 in. (77.5 x 58.4 cm) each. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Photography Committee, Director`s Discretionary Fund, Steven Ames, Kathryn Fleck, William True, and the Henry Nias Foundation, 2002.294a-t. © Roni Horn

Roni Horn (b. 1955), Becoming a Landscape, 1999–2001 (detail). Twenty chromogenic prints, six prints 20 ½ x 20 ½ in. (52.1 × 52.1 cm) each, fourteen prints 30 ½ x 23 in. (77.5 × 58.4 cm) each. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Photography Committee, Director`s Discretionary Fund, Steven Ames, Kathryn Fleck, William True, and the Henry Nias Foundation, 2002.294a-t
© Roni Horn

Roni Horn (b. 1955), bird (detail), 1998/2008. Twenty pigment prints, six prints 22 × 22 in. (55.9 × 55.9 cm) each. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth, Zürich London © Roni Horn

Roni Horn (b. 1955), Paired Gold Mats, for Ross and Felix, 1994–95. Two pure gold mats, 1/1000 × 60 × 49 in. (.002 × 152.4 × 124.5 cm) each. The Art Institute of Chicago; gift of Muriel Kallis Newman in honor of James Cuno © Roni Horn

Man in a swimsuit walking in front of mountains.

Roni Horn (b.1955), Selections from Hot Water Suites + Man and Hot Pot, 1994. Six offset lithographs on uncoated paper, 12 × 17 ½ in. (30.5 × 44.5 cm) each © Roni Horn

Roni Horn (b. 1955), Still Water (The River Thames, for Example), 1999 (detail). Fifteen offset lithographs on uncoated paper (photographs and text), 30 1/2 × 41 1/2 in. (76.2 × 104.1 cm) each. Tate, London; presented by the American Fund for the Tate Gallery, courtesy of the American Acquisitions Committee 2005, accessioned 2008 © Roni Horn

An artwork of the surface of a body of water.

Roni Horn, Still Water (The River Thames, for Example), 1999 (detail). Fifteen offset lithographs on uncoated paper (photographs and text), 30 1/2 x 41 1/2 in. (76.2 x 104.1 cm) each. Tate, London; presented by the American Fund for the Tate Gallery, courtesy of the American Acquisitions Committee 2005, accessioned 2008. © Roni Horn

Roni Horn (b. 1955), This is me, This is you, 1998–2000 (detail). Ninety-six chromogenic prints, 12 ½ x 10 ¼ in. (31.8 × 26 cm) each. Courtesy Hauser and Wirth © Roni Horn

Roni Horn (b. 1955), This is me, This is you, 1998–2000 (detail). Ninety-six chromogenic prints, 12 ½ x 10 ¼ in. (31.8 × 26 cm) each. Courtesy Hauser and Wirth © Roni Horn

Roni Horn (b. 1955), This is me, This is you, 1998–2000 (detail). Ninety-six chromogenic prints, 12 ½ x 10 ¼ in. (31.8 × 26 cm) each. Courtesy Hauser and Wirth © Roni Horn

Installation of photographs of a girl in a grid.

Roni Horn (b. 1955), This is me, This is you, 1998–2000 (detail). Ninety-six chromogenic prints, 12 ½ x 10 ¼ in. (31.8 × 26 cm) each. Courtesy Hauser and Wirth © Roni Horn

Face of a young girl with water drops in black and white.

Roni Horn, detail of You are the Weather, 1994–1995. Thirty-six gelatin silver prints and sixty-four chromogenic prints. 10 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches each. Exhibition copy. © Roni Horn

Installation of portraits of a young girl.

Roni Horn (b. 1955), You are the Weather, 1994–95 (detail). Thirty-six gelatin silver prints and sixty-four chromogenic prints, 10 ½ x 8 ½ in. (26.7 × 21.6 cm) each. Exhibition copy © Roni Horn

Roni Horn (b. 1955), You are the Weather, 1994–95 (installation view). Thirty-six gelatin silver prints and sixty-four chromogenic prints, 10 ½ x 8 ½ in. (26.7 × 21.6 cm) each © Roni Horn