F.P. Boué
stands still
September 10 – October 16, 2016
Opening Saturday September 10, 6-9pm

F.P. Boué, “Untitled (stands still icon 2)”, 2016 (detail) – Image courtesy of the artist

Microscope Gallery is extremely pleased to present stands still, the first solo exhibition of works at the gallery by artist F.P. Boué.

Through new drawings, Super 8mm films, 3-dimensional objects including 8-foot columns and other works referencing or representing modern buildings and ancient sites of Athens and other cities in Greece, stands still draws attention to the contemporary culture of disposability and waste, especially as reflected in the housing, commercial and institutional buildings of many urban areas in recent times.

“By focusing on the qualities of overlooked buildings in the context of overexposed traces of the past, the works explore tensions between image and nothingness, form and formlessness – some tied to specific, finite situations and some that call to mind boundless, endless chaos.” – F.P. Boué

Late 20th century architecture in Athens, with its continued and thoughtful use of building proportions and materials is proposed, even at its most mundane, as a counterpoint to the often unchecked and uninspired development of New York and other cities, where many equivalent structures are no longer standing. Interstitial elements, such as black and white intervals in the film works and “empty” spaces, in the form of flat and curved surfaces meant for the accumulation of dust, suggest and record the passage of time.

Additionally, imagery of the ruins of the ancient Olympia, including the marble starting line of the stadium, appear on film. Architectonic modules made of simple construction materials such as plywood, Homasote board, and cement approximate the columns of the Temple of Hera, into which shallow cavities were carved to contain portraits of early Olympic winners, here replaced with photographs depicting usually unnoticed modern building facades.

The dimensions of many works on view correspond to simple and recognizable increments of measurement, the inch and foot, which were set in ancient times according to the human body, defining portions of constructed reality that can be scaled upwards from the human and material world to the infinite and the eternal.

_
F.P. Boué was born in Marburg, Germany. He studied linguistics, the history of art, architecture and film in London, Paris, Switzerland and Italy before moving to New York City in 1993. His work frequently references architecture, landscape and urban situations. Boué’s works have previously been exhibited at Participant, Inc. New York; Galleria Luigi De Ambrogi, Milan; Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris; Galerie Corinne Hummel, Basel; Centro Galileo, Madrid; Markus Winter, Berlin; and others. His films have been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the New Museum in New York; Kunstmuseum, Bern and Shedhalle Zürich, Switzerland; Künstlerhaus, Stuttgart and Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany; and Tate Modern, London, UK, among others. Boué lives and works in New York.

stands still runs from Saturday September 10 through October 16, 2016. Opening Reception Saturday September 10, 6-9pm. Gallery Hours: Thursday through Monday 1-6pm.

High-res or additional images are available upon request. For inquiries please contact the gallery at inquiries@microscopegallery.com or by phone at 347.925.1433