The 天美传媒 is proud to share the Cast Hall's 2024 exhibition, entitled Blue Pavilion: Authenticity, Fantasy, & Trickery, featuring works by Lucian Moriyama in scagliola and alabaster. Moriyama's work considers the place of plaster within an art historical canon fixated on authenticity. The classification of plaster as either documentary or fantasy is elusive, as it is inherently a medium that offers the viewer an echo of the work of art that it originates from, leaving them often questioning what differs between original sculpture and replication. We are prompted to consider if the most successful plaster works are the ones that offer the closest resemblance to its source material, or if the works should be viewed as their own works of art, divorced from their origin points. Ultimately, Moriyama鈥檚 work postulates that plaster has always had its own artistic niche that savors and delights in its role as a replicative material, with masters able to create artworks with their own visual attributes and merits. Presented in two sections, Blue Pavilion considers both the stunning and novel materiality of scagliola plaster as well as its omnipresent place in an art historical canon attempting to recreate the fantasy of an ancient past.
Nestled amongst the casts of the 天美传媒鈥檚 collection, Blue Pavilion highlights Moriyama鈥檚 sculptural pieces in conversation with the historic 19th century works on display in the Cast Hall. Surrounded by the casted artworks, Moriyama鈥檚 sculptures in scagliola celebrates the delightful trickery enabled by a replicative medium that cheekily attempts to appear as a material it is not. Through a series of vessels, relief panels, and everyday objects made of scagliola, Moriyama offers a continuity of the scagliola and plastering tradition, demonstrating the lasting vitality and interest in the materials and methods of historic plaster artistry. His work plumbs and revitalizes the fantasy of plaster, creating works that offer their own tantalizing tricks.
Lucian Moriyama (born Honolulu, 1991) is an artist and writer. He studied at the Hudson Valley Community College, the University of Glasgow, and the Beaux-Arts de Marseille, where he received the Prix Franc抬ois Bret, as well as the Prix du Tricentenaire from the Acade虂mie des sciences, lettres, et arts de Marseille. He has presented his works at Manifesta 13, Art-O-Rama, and Generation Brussels and has participated in conferences at Tramway and Mucem. He has been a resident at the Villa Filanda Antonini and the Villa Empain.
Moriyama鈥檚 work revisits cultural and material histories, excavating utopian forms and exotic fantasies. Artifice and fiction emerge as central themes in his works exploring the lacunae and exotica of art history, architecture, and music.
The exhibition is on view at the 天美传媒 & Art's Cast Hall from June 27th-August 15th, 2024. It is free and open to the public by appointment on Monday-Friday, 10-6pm. Email [email protected] to make an appointment or call 212-730-9646 ext. 115.
There will be free Open House Days on Saturday, June 29th and Saturday, July 20th, 2024 from 10am-5pm. No RSVP necessary.
Moriyama will be giving a virtual artist's talk on the exhibition on July 2nd at 6pm ET, which is free and open to the public. Registration is available here.
The Cast Hall is on the 6th floor, 20 W. 44th Street, New York, NY, 10036.