LEO SAUL BERK • Deep, Dark

September 22 – October 31, 2009

Exhibition Catalog available.

The full-color catalog includes essays by Charles Mudede, Dan Webb and an interview between the artist and Joey Veltkamp.

DEEP, DARK
Lawrimore Project is pleased to present “Deep, Dark,” new work by Seattle artist Leo Saul Berk. The artist’s seventh solo show in the northwest, “Deep, Dark” is his first one-person exhibition with Lawrimore Project and will include four new sculptural works in wood, resin, acrylic and fiberglass, as well as new drawings on paper and engraved acrylic. Four major world events bind the works in the exhibition: 9/11, the battle for Tora Bora, the Quecreek Mine rescue, and Saddam Hussein’s spider hole capture. These events form a historical backdrop for “Deep, Dark,” but do not tell the full story. It would be a mistake to simply associate the work in the exhibition with these incidents—to think of them as illustrations of or markers for the events alone. What is at stake in the work is a deeper investigation of the drive for authenticity in representation, the desires and fallibilities of communication, the quest for objective truth, and darker psychologies of underground spaces.

TORA BORA
Two and a half months after 9/11, on November 29, 2001, as the United States and its allies were ramping up their war efforts in Afghanistan, the Times of London newspaper printed a schematic rendering of the caves of Tora Bora, the mountain complex and presumed hideout of Osama bin Laden. CBS, expanding the story, reported, “The massive hideout was built by the U.S. to house forces fighting the Soviet Army in the 1980s. The complex - nicknamed "bin Laden's ant farm," is burrowed deep into Gree Khil peak -- soaring 13,000 feet above the village of Tora Bora. It is virtually impregnable -- a latticework of tunnels, storage rooms for arms and munitions, and accommodations for up to a thousand fighters. Ventilation shafts bring fresh air 1,200 feet inside the mountain. A nearby river provides hydroelectric power to the complex... at least 2,000 of bin Laden's al-Qaida fighters are believed to be hiding there."

What exactly does it mean to propagate a lie? Like “Rattling House,” the carved wood assemblage “Tora Bora” is a to-scale sculptural model of the caves of Tora Bora. Unlike the former though, Berk's representation of it is a faithful, authentic and objective depiction of a lie. The mountain complex, as presented in schematic form by The Times London, has now been proven to be ridiculously exaggerated... This fact wouldn’t matter so much if the fear this depiction engendered—“see what we’re up against?!”—wasn’t such a successful tool used by world leaders and their staffs to push for war against other supposed supporters of terrorist activity. By faithfully rendering and propagating this lie, Berk is not only clumsily spelunking in Plato’s Cave, but also exploring more complicated artist/spectator relations. For Berk, as is evidenced in the finished sculpture, acrobatic leaps of logic and a psychological drive to “gild the lily” are precisely what’s at play in the creative act as well as the act of looking. “Tora Bora” may be the shadow cast by a specious shadow, but in the hands of the artist and the eyes of the viewer, its own truth remains a singular, compelling thing unto itself.

RATTLING HOUSE When the events of 9/11 were happening in 2001 Leo Saul Berk was in a remote jungle of Guatemala hiking towards Naj Tunich, a sacred cave the Mayas believed to be the entrance to the underworld. Used for religious ceremonies and as tombs for royalty, Naj Tunich is now the richest archeological pilgrimage site of all Maya caves, containing the largest and most complex architecture, and the greatest amount of paintings, inscriptions, and artifacts. Thousands of feet inside, with only patchy knowledge of the events above, Berk couldn’t have been more physically removed from, yet strangely psychologically connected to, the political and societal shifts that were occurring a world away. “Rattling House,” is a to-scale sculptural model of the Naj Tunich cave—a literal translation of the entire known, mapped negative space of the geological formation. In his exploration for authenticity and objective truth--true objecthood--Berk creates work with the aid of C.A.D. software (Computer-Aided Design) and a C.N.C. machine (Computer Numerical Control). Translating schematics and surveys into computer code, the piece is then carved in urethane by machine before being painstakingly hand-finished in pigmented resin by the artist. Although true to the physical dimensions of the space, it remains an information-poor repository of the ancient psychologies therein and a taciturn surrogate for the collective emotions of a contemporary culture rattled by terrorist acts. It is in these inadequacies that the piece houses its true power not only as pure sculpture, but also as a pure space for projection and reflection on the events and experiences that inspired it.

QUECREEK MINE From July 24-28, 2002 (78 hours), nine miners were trapped 240 feet underground at the Quecreek Mine in southwestern Pennsylvania when it unexpectedly flooded with an estimated 50 million gallons of water. This potential tragedy occurred just 15 miles from where hijacked United Flight 93 was forced to the ground by heroic passengers on 9/11. The miners’ eventual rescue became a timely salve not only for the community but also for an entire country in need of some good news. This pro-America triumph against all odds, pushed the discussions and the rally cries for war with Iraq off the front pages at least for a few days. Coincidentally, it is now known, thanks to the “Downing Street Memo,” that just one day prior to the mine flooding, on July 23, 2002, heads of the British government were conducting a secret meeting to discuss the highly-classified push for war against Iraq on the part of the U.S. government.

The largest piece in the exhibition, “Quecreek Mine” is a sprawling sculpture in acrylic and walnut plywood. Here the pure thrill of creation and reveling in the choice of materials and manner of presentation are evidenced in the hopped-up color palette, the high level of craftsmanship and the degree of design. Berk began with a 2-dimensional rendering of the Quecreek Mine in southwestern Pennsylvania. Its dry, monotonous architecture-of-necessity is the exact opposite of the organic meanderings of “Rattling House” or the fantastical complexity of “Tora Bora.” It is, without doubt, a man-made underworld and as such required a similar dedication to production on the part of the artist, but for Berk doing this is everything but rote execution. The uplifting spirit of the rescue is made manifest in the work and, by analogy, “rescues” the subject and the sculpture . The architecture of the mine and the essence of the story and how is was presented in the media are all translated into a brilliant combination of solidity, transparency, light, reflection and projection.

SPIDER HOLE On December 13, 2003, nine months into the Iraq war, “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. troops while hiding in a spider hole in a farmhouse near his hometown of Tikrit. Photographs, videos, schematics, renderings, and even 3-dimensional recreations of the lowly and claustrophobic spider hole flooded the media soon thereafter.

The only full-scale sculpture in the exhibition and the simplest form by far, “Spider Hole” makes the viewer’s ability to project themselves into Hussein’s (and Berk’s) underground an uneasy proposition.

DRAWINGS The advent of CNC technology (Computer Numerical Control) revolutionized manufacturing. No longer limited by the constraints of human labor, production became incessant and virtually errorless. Berk utilizes CNC to execute his drawings, turning our attention away from the assembly line to what it means to find perfection on paper. Modifying this immense, industrial machine to hold disposable “Gelly Roll,” iridescent ink pens, his drawings are home to topographies in sparkling hues. The flawless execution of their lines are at odds with the amorphous vortex of their forms, begging the question: what are these spaces like in three dimensions? His current work maps the interiors of caves, exploring the societal significance of these spiritually and politically charged places.

Alongside these more traditionally presented ink on paper drawings, we are pleased to be debuting Berk’s new series of engraved drawings on acrylic.

BIOGRAPHY
Leo Saul Berk grew up in Bruce Goff’s "Ruth Ford House" in Aurora, Illinois (the 'cave-like' vaulted ceiling is pictured at right). The artist maintains that this experience colors everything he creates. Berk received his BFA in 1997 from University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and his MFA from the University of Washington, Seattle in 1999. He has had numerous one-person exhibitions in galleries and museums such as: Howard House, Seattle; cherrydelosreyes, Los Angeles; Hedreen Gallery at Seattle University; and Bellevue Art Museum. His work has been included in many group exhibitions including: "Essential Elements, "Northwest Museum of Art, La Conner, WA (currently on view); "Gimme," Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle; "Swallow Harder: Selections from the Ben and Aileen Krohn Collection," Frye Art Museum, Seattle; "Woods," d.u.m.b.o. arts center, Brooklyn, NY; "Remodeling," California State University Art Museum, Long Beach (catalogue); and "Multiplex," Bumbershoot, Seattle, Curated by Michael van Horn. Awards include: numerous Artist Trust grants; Distinguished Alumni Award, University of Washington, Seattle; Seattle Collects, Purchase Award, Seattle Arts Commission; and the Kate Neal Kinely Fellowship Award. His work is in numerous private collections and in the permanent collections of: King County, Washington; Tacoma Art Museum; Amgen Corporation, Seattle; City of Seattle; United States Department of Navy, Washington, D.C.; University of Washington, Seattle. We are please to announce that Berk's work is included in the just-published, "The Map As Art: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography" by Katharine Harmon with essays by Gayle Clemens. Artists discussed include: Ed Ruscha, Olafur Eliasson, William Kentridge, Vik Muniz, Joyce Kozloff, Ingrid Calame, Guillermo Kuitca, Maya Lin and others.

LEO SAUL BERK • Deep, Dark

Tora Bora, 2009. Wood. 60 x 60 x 40 inches. Unique.

Rattling House, 2008 (left). Urethane, pigmented epoxy, aluminum. 10 x 3 x 5.75 feet. Unique

Photo credit: Mark Woods.

Dark House, 2008. Ink on paper. 90 x 140 inches. Unique. $10,000. [ON HOLD].

Photo credit: Mark Woods,

Quecreek Mine, 2009. Acrylic and walnut. 30 x 2.5 x 22 feet. Unique. P.O.R.

Photo credit: Mark Woods.

Dark House, 2008 (detail of a multi-panel drawing)

Photo credit: Mark Woods.

Rattling House, 2008. Details.

Photo credit: Mark Woods.

Spider Hole, 2009. Fiberglass, foam, resin and glass. 6 x 4 x 10 feet. Unique. Photo credit: Mark Woods.

Quecreek Mine (drawing), 2009. Engraved acrylic, walnut. 22 x 32 inches. Edition of 3

[Editions 1/3, 2/3 SOLD; Ed 3/3 ON HOLD]. Photo credit: Mark Woods.

Tora Bora (drawing), 2009. Ink on paper. 30 x 22 inches. Edition of 3.

Eds. 1/3, 2/3 SOLD

Photo credit: Mark Woods.

River of Blood, 2008. Ink on paper. 30 x 42 inches. Edition of 3.

[Edition 1/3 SOLD]. Photo credit: Mark Woods.

Bruce Goff’s “Ruth Ford House” - detail of the arched ceiling. Photo credit: ©2009 Lisa Kelly, Prairie Design Group.

*Deep, Dark made possible in part by a generous grant from 4Culture

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