. ruppersberg



Allen Ruppersberg
"Honey, I rearranged the collection"
January 8 - February 5, 2000

On January 8 "Honey, I rearranged the collection", an exhibition of recent work by Allen Ruppersberg, will open at the Christine Burgin Gallery. The "collection" installed in the gallery is that of a collector of Ruppersberg's invention, a collector of, among other things, Ruppersberg's own multi-panel works from the 70's. In an effort to express his current collecting philosophies, this fictional collector has extensively rearranged the works, covering the "new" works with post-its by way of explanation:

HONEY, I REARRANGED THE COLLECTION ACCORDING TO SOME OLD IDEAS FROM ADVERTISING ABOUT ART.

HONEY, I REARRANGED THE COLLECTION TO SHOW THAT WE ARE NICE PEOPLE.

HONEY, I REARRANGED THE COLLECTION STARTING WITH THE SMALLEST PIECE BY A MINOR ARTIST.

HONEY, I REARRANGED THE COLLECTION USING ARTISTS WHO ARE ALSO CRITICS AND WHO HAVE MOVED FROM NY TO LA (AND VICE VERSA).

The role of collector is a familiar one to Ruppersberg who, over the years, has amassed an extensive array of ephemera: deaccessioned educational films (a collection that now numbers in the thousands), banner headline newspapers, Hollywood and TV promotional stills, movie theatre standees… Like the fictional collector, which he invents for this new work, Ruppersberg is continually rethinking and mentally rearranging his archive and it is this process and this material from which he draws the inspiration for his work.

Allen Ruppersberg has exhibited extensively since the late 60's when he was included in such important early exhibitions of conceptual art as "When Attitudes Become Form" at the Kunsthalle Bern. His most recent recent exhibitions include retrospective exhibitions at the FRAC Limousin, Limoges and the Magasin, Grenoble and a solo show at Portikus, Frankfurt. His work is included in numerous public and private collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, NY, MOCA, LA and the Stedlijk Museum, Amsterdam. Ruppersberg live sin new York and Los Angeles where he is currently teaching at the University of California, Los Angeles.

ruppersberg

Allen Ruppersberg
"Honey, I rearranged the collection"
Installation view detail Christine Burgin, New York