KANSAS is pleased to present National Park, a two-person exhibition of new work by Lukas Geronimas and Jesse A. Greenberg. Opening November 2, the exhibition will be on view through December 8, 2012.

The work in this exhibition maps the potential of the artists’ material vocabularies as objects, creating a landscape that (A.) addresses both the ways an object can be made to alter its environment, and (B.) the ways an object can be dealt with by an experienced hand (a hand that is attached to an experienced mind, of course). If one were to consider (A) as the topography of this map, its mountains and valleys would consist of levels of structure that build to support, present, highlight and choreograph material components, and the removal of those structures, forcing material components to do without. Thinking of (B) as the topology, its distances would consist of the artists’ trajectories down specific formal and material paths; its [landmarks] would consist of references to the histories of art, furniture, architecture, design and culture made familiar to the artists while making these paths, that have markedly influenced the object’s formation.

The resulting installation is a complex territory of use-values and material dynamics. Objects can function as signs and directions; their structural systems and levels of presentation are at play, creating an opportunity for the viewer to map their own experience and to develop a relationship where viewer and object are component to one another. Objects and their perceived limits are pushed even beyond functionality or form as a fetishistic use of materials mystifies the focus of the work. Like flags and logos that now intrinsically identify natural and intellectual properties, in Geronimas and Greenberg’s National Park, color, shape material and utility are imbued with representative meaning.

Lukas Geronimas (b. 1980, Toronto, Canada) received a MFA from the Milton Avery Graduate School of Arts at Bard College and Bachelor of Commerce from University of British Columbia, Canada. His recent exhibitions include: Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; ROOM EAST, New York, NY; Asian Song Society, New York, NY; Jack Chiles, New York, NY and The Housatonic Museum of Art, Bridgeport, CT. Geronimas lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Jesse A. Greenberg (b. 1982, Morristown, NJ) received a MFA from Columbia University and BFA from Rhode Island School of Design. His recent exhibitions include: LOYAL, Malmö, Sweden; Marc Jancou Contemporary, New York, NY; Socrates Sculpture Park, Queens, NY; Derek Eller, New York, NY; Galerie Zürcher, Paris, FR; KANSAS, New York, NY and the Queens Museum of Art, Long Island City, NY. Greenberg lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

For more information, please contact Steven Stewart at KANSAS by calling (646) 559-1423 or emailing [email protected]

”....the premises shall be held for public use, resort, and recreation; [this] shall be inalienable for all time; ....” (38th United States Congress, Session 1, 1864). In 1916 the National Park Service was established to maintain and promote recognized places for their ecological, natural or historic significance. The NPS now manages 398 sites, 58 of which are called national parks.