Down and Out is composed of various sculptural work alluding to ephemerality and pathos, including an artistic intervention over the nearby High Line outside the Gallery’s window.

With subtle narrative implications, comic and colorful works, such as “Broken Rainbow” and “Neapolitan,” evoke emotions that oscillate between desire, hope and the unattainable. Other works in the show, such as “I’m Sorry” emphasize the sculptures’ inherent pathetic state, in which the work seemingly apologizes for its own appearance and function. Down and Out extends beyond the Gallery to the nearby High Line, a 1.5 mile, elevated railway that runs along the West Side of Manhattan.

Down and Out is Chris Kasper’s first solo exhibition. An MFA Yale University graduate, NY-based artist Chris Kasper (1972) has shown at venues such as White Chapel Gallery, London; The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT; Contemporary Museum, Baltimore; Rivington Arms, New York; Foxy Productions, New York; Bellwether, New York; and Bronx River Art Center, New York. Kasper’s work is featured in the current summer 2005 issue of ArtForum, in the article entitled, “A Text About High Desert Test Sites,” by Lisa Anne Auerbach and Andrea Zittel, pg 284. Kasper will be a participant in the Whitney Museum’s Independent Studio Program (ISP) in the Fall.

“Down and Out” is the third exhibition in July Friedman Gallery’s Solo Shorts summer program. Solo Shorts, a series of 2-3 week exhibitions provide an alternative to the prevalent “summer group show.” Solo Shorts gives emerging artists the opportunity to produce and exhibit new work, while focusing on more experimental projects.