Feigen Contemporary
535 West 20th Street, 212-929-0500
Chelsea
September 14 - October 28, 2006
Reception: Thursday, September 14, 6 - 8 PM
Web Site
In the front gallery, Brain Salt, a collaborative installation initiated by Elizabeth Huey, with works by BROOKE CHROMAN, ELIZABETH HUEY, and BRYAN MESENBOURG, extracts a motif from the main exhibition, examining in detail the interiors of early asylums. Rescued and modified objects from asylums – wallpaper from an abandoned mental hospital, surgical equipment, microscopes, instructional drawings, and patient records – as well as original work designed to respond to the institutional aesthetic, combine to position the visitor as the asylum’s true subject. Chroman questions the aesthetic experience, Huey contributes occupied jails in miniature, and Mesenbourg’s sculptures round out the space, adding an edge of sly commentary to an otherwise sobering peek at psychology’s roots.