About
"Pfeiffer's works address how the image of the human being has been transformed by new digital technologies, which can be used both to store limitless amounts of visual information and to manipulate pre-existing images."
– Hilarie M. Sheets
Gagosian Gallery is pleased to present "Pirate Jenny," an exhibition by Paul Pfeiffer featuring five new video works, a sculptural installation and monumental photographs from the series, "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse." This exhibition is shown in collaboration with The Project, and will feature new work at both galleries simultaneously.
The cornerstone of the exhibition is "Empire," a video documenting the three-month development and life cycle of a wasp nest. Presented in real time, "Empire" is a perfect example of a recent elaboration in Pfeiffer's work: the expanded use of original footage. In the case of "Empire," this technique allows the artist to comment on the analogies between the structure of our society and the process of the queen building her nest, laying her eggs and becoming the matriarch of her community.
Another highlight of the exhibition will be the nine most recent "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" photographs. In this series, as in many of Pfeiffer's most famous video works, the artist utilizes a reductive take on appropriation, meticulously editing found images of basketball players until a central figure is left isolated against the backdrop of the audience, frozen in a sublime moment of ambiguity.
