Yale School of Art Presents New Work by Jac Leirner, Now thru 9/30

The Yale School of Art presents an exhibition of new work by Brazilian conceptualist and sculptor Jac Leirner, one of the leading figures in the generation of Latin American artists that emerged in the 1990s. Titled Hardware Seda - Hardware Silk, the exhibition comprises an ensemble of hanging, freestanding, and wall-mounted sculptures, as well as a group of polychrome wooden floor-pieces and a series of watercolors related to them.

As is the artist's custom, the sculptures were created out of commonplace objects that she collected. Encompassing turnbuckles, wire, chains, clamps, product labels, spirit levels, and cigarette papers, among other items, these were amassed, and the work created, while Ms. Leirner was in residence this spring at the Yale School of Art.

Jac Leirner (born 1961) emerged in the early 1990s at the forefront of a new generation of artists who looked to the art of the 1960s and 1970s as a point of departure. Leirner creates her work out of discarded or scavenged mass-produced objects and materials, ranging from obsolete airline ashtrays to devalued currency; used stationery, envelopes, and mailers, to used shopping bags from museum stores and high-end airport boutiques; professional business cards; and all of the left-over components from multiple empty cigarette packs. Out of these, the artist creates meticulously constructed works that are both aesthetically and conceptually rigorous, and that frequently address issues of contemporary life, including consumption, the exchange of information, and commerce, among others.

The exhibit will be shown from May 12–June 4 and August 29–September 30, 2012.