This exhibition furthers Newkirk’s formal and conceptual investigations of the periphery within the framework of the rural, the suburban and the exurban. As one of many tools at his disposal Newkirk first began experimenting with the practice of pony beads upon braided hair about ten years ago. Newkirk has married the tactile kitsch of his chosen materials with images of unpopulated landscapes that balance the banal and the sublime.

For this exhibition, Newkirk uses the swimming pool as his point of reference to explore the landscape, questions of privilege, interior and exterior spaces, and racial mythologies in America. A four sided large scale three-dimensional piece is suspended from the ceiling inviting the viewer to navigate around the work, taking physical journey around its non-linear narrative. These suburban American landscapes, iconic in tone, are not unlike Newkirk’s childhood neighborhood in central New York. In the works on view, the geographic signifiers, swimmers and their splashes have been erased from the landscape. Newkirk’s unoccupied landscapes allow the viewer to question notions of ownership, class mobility and personal agency while being seduced by the bucolic serenity of the suburban pastoral.

Interrogating notions of public and private space, Newkirk’s ubiquitous pools could document a privileged private pool in the backyard of a Los Angeles home or perhaps a communal public outdoor pool in an urban neighborhood. These works both reveal Newkirk’s exploration of multifaceted identity construction and urban planning.

For the 2006 Whitney Biennial, Newkirk will be exhibiting Glint (2005), a four-sided sculptural curtain illustrating a nondescript urban landscape at night. Glint brings the exterior landscape indoors, inviting viewers to take a night time walk inside the white cube. Newkirk will also be included in the upcoming Dakar Biennial in May.