Contemporary Arts Center
Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center
for Contemporary Art
44 E. 6th Street,
Cincinnati, OH 45202

513 345 8400

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DANIEL ARSHAM: REMEMBER THE FUTURE
March 20, 2015 - August 30, 2015


(Cincinnati, OH – January 28, 2015) Coming off his wildly successful showing during Art Basel in Miami, Florida, Cleveland born artist Daniel Arsham will present his first large scale exhibition in Ohio at the Contemporary Arts Center. Daniel Arsham: Remember the Future will run from March 20 through August 30, 2015.


Remember the Future will feature a mountain of almost 3,000 individual artifacts cast from 20th century media devices. Imagine thousands of telephones, film projectors, cameras, boomboxes and keyboards all cast in volcanic ash, bitumen, hydrostone and crystal. With these objects Arsham collapses time and transports the viewer to the surreal site of a future archaeological discovery, anticipating what landfills may be facing 100 years from now. Marrying theatre, architecture and science fiction, some of Daniel Arsham’s best-known works break and rebuild subjects including gallery walls, furniture and the human form. Arsham casts life size figures from crushed glass and conjures ghostly human shapes that appear to be emerging from surrounding walls.


The Contemporary Art Center’s Alice & Harris Weston Director, Raphaela Platow, believes visitors will be blown away by Arsham’s work "We are thrilled to host this thought provoking, beautiful exhibition by Daniel Arsham and are proud to once again feature an artist on the cusp of international recognition. Daniel collaborates broadly with diverse, cultural figures from different fields and the energy of his cross-disciplinary approach will be vividly felt in our unique exhibition project Remember the Future."


Musicians Pharrell Williams, Usher and actor James Franco are just a few of the celebrities who have collaborated with, and are fans of, Daniel Arsham. He has achieved an international reputation and is represented by major galleries in New York, Paris, São Paulo, Miami and Los Angeles. He became widely known at the age of 25 when he was asked to design a stage set for the legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham - it would be the first of many projects.


CAC Exhibition Curator Steven Matijcio has worked with Arsham in the past and is eager to showcase the young artist’s work on a larger stage in Cincinnati. He elaborates, “the CAC made a global impression with a building by Zaha Hadid, and it will continue to pursue the vanguard of this field by allowing Arsham to respond to the light, structure and vision of this space. He fuses visual and spatial experience, confronting us with life-size figures, ghostly presences, and dramatic monuments in a state of transformation. Your eyes will be made to feel the textures of his work.”


Arsham’s practice stems from childhood memories of seeing the wreckage of Hurricane Andrew in Miami. The storm tore at his family’s house, putting his life and family in jeopardy. This experience had a profound effect on him; seeing first hand the creations of man torn apart by the power and unpredictability of nature gave Arsham a glimpse at what hid behind the walls. He cites this intense experience as inspiration for his unique approach to art and architecture.


Arsham is also one half of the aptly named art and architecture collaborative “Snarkitecture.” He and his business partner, Alex Mustonen, aim to make certain elements of a given space “perform the unexpected.” This playful technique can be seen in Arsham’s work at the Dior Homme store in Los Angeles where he used architectural foam to make the walls appear as though they were dissolving. The pair also notably designed a piece that commemorated the large “Miami Orange Bowl” sign that hung outside the Florida Marlin’s baseball park – scattered bright orange letters jut out of the ground at seemingly precarious angles, and yet an interview with Snarkitecture confirms that the entire piece meets all building codes and are perfectly safe.


Despite having moved to New York, Daniel has never forgotten his roots and has long sought to produce a new landmark show in his home state. The Contemporary Arts Center is proud to host the first Ohio-based exhibition of its native son this spring and share his very important work with both new and existing fans in this region.


Daniel Arsham: Remember the Future is made possible by Formica Group, Bartlett & Co. and Artswave Corporate Partner: The Kroger Co.

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