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GalleriesNow: The Weekender, Great exhibitions at Maureen Paley, Semiose, Halsey McKay, Almine Rech, David Richard, Tornabuoni, Richard Saltoun, T293, Grosvenor, Tucci Russo, 16 December 2022

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Maureen Paley is pleased to present the first exhibition at the gallery by New Zealand artist Fiona Connor who is based in Los Angeles.

Fiona Connor’s work draws attention to specific objects and architectural spaces and seeks to investigate and interact with social arenas such as public parks, night clubs or exhibition venues. By utilising processes of reproduction and simulation, Connor’s sculptural language challenges how we interpret often overlooked peripheral forms and spatial details within these sites of exchange and communication. Presented in this exhibition are examples of work from recent projects that are brought together for the first time, directing the viewer’s attention between various sites, materials, and states of being, while also engaging with the specific location of the gallery.

Included are recreated bulletin boards that were found along State Route 27 or Topanga Canyon Blvd that include meticulously replicated faded flyers and ephemera that have been re-made using UV-printing and screen-printing onto aluminium sheets. Frozen in the moment they are transformed, the notice boards present micro-histories of communities and personal threads of connectivity that also document the obsolescence of the bulletin board as a current place of social interaction due to a great dependence on social media. Her resin cast monochromes are all taken from surfaces that have been attached to buildings for a long time to serve a purpose (a boarded-up window of a bar and two bulletin boards that stood empty). Their presence suggests the anachronistic echoes of silenced interactions that once played out and are now abandoned spaces.

Community Notice Board (Real Estate)
enclosed cork board, silkscreen and UV print on aluminium, pins, tape, staples, vinyl, surface treatments
91.5 x 76.3 x 6.5 cm – 36 x 30 x 2 1/2 in
2022

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Untitled #48 (417 E Pico Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90015)
cast resin, paint
2 elements:
part 1: 122 x 64 x 2.5 cm - 48 x 25 1/4 x 1 in
part 2: 122.5 x 81.5 x 2.5 cm - 48 1/4 x 32 1/8 x 1 in
2021

Community Notice Board (Firefighters)
enclosed cork board, silkscreen and UV print on aluminium, pins, tape, staples, vinyl, surface treatments
91.5 x 61 x 5.5 cm - 36 x 24 x 2 1/8 in
2022

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Notes on Untitled #48 (417 E Pico Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90015), 2021 by the artist:

'Bulletin board in the entryway of a building in downtown Los Angeles in the garment district that I documented, then reproduced and made the silicon mold for in my studio. Once the silicon molds are made all the works are cast and painted in my studio.'

Untitled (from Sri Penang)
painted bronze in four parts
each: 8 x 3.5 x 8 cm – 3 1/8 x 1 3/8 x 3 1/8 in
overall: 8 x 72 cm – 3 1/8 x 28 3/8 in
2022

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Long Distance
exhibition view
Maureen Paley, London
2022

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Untitled (shoes)
bronze
each: 11.5 x 28 x 12 cm - 4 1/2 x 11 x 4 3/4 in
overall: 12 x 42 x 30 cm - 4 3/4 x 16 1/2 x 11 3/4 in
2020

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Situated directly on the floor or mounted as they would be encountered first hand, Connor has also cast in bronze various functional items, personal belongings, and pieces of furniture that operate as trigger signs of habitation – sourced from her studio, home and from her movement in the city.

Untitled #45 (Scorpio Bar, 4401 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90019) A
cast resin, paint
92 x 148.5 x 3 cm
2021


Untitled #45 (Scorpio Bar, 4401 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90019) B
cast resin, paint
74.5 x 123 x 3 cm - 29 3/8 x 48 3/8 x 1 1/8 in
2021

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Long Distance
exhibition view
Maureen Paley, London
2022

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Untitled (shelf)
bronze
17 x 30 x 18.3 cm - 6 3/4 x 11 3/4 x 7 1/4 in
2020

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Community Notice Board (Coin Laundry)
custom cork board and sign, silkscreen and UV print on aluminium, pins, tape, staples
2 elements:
part 1: 33 x 71.3 x 1.5 cm - 13 x 28 1/8 x 5/8 in
part 2: 61.5 x 92 x 3.5 cm - 24 1/4 x 36 1/4 x 1 3/8 in
2022

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Long Distance
exhibition view
Maureen Paley, London
2022

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Untitled #53, (24700 McBean Pkwy, Valencia CA 91355)
cast resin, paint
61 x 61 x 1.8 cm – 24 x 24 x 3/4 in
2022

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Untitled (folding chair)
bronze
90 x 44 x 11 cm – 35 3/8 x 17 3/8 x 4 3/8 in
2020

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Fiona Connor (b. 1981, Auckland, New Zealand) currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California. She received a Bachelor Degree from the University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand and a Masters of Fine Arts from California Institute for the Arts, Santa Clarita, California.

Recent solo exhibitions include: My muse is my memory, an archive of Closed Down Clubs, Château Shatto, Los Angeles, California, USA (2022); Closed for installation, Fiona Connor, SculptureCenter, #4, SculptureCenter, New York, Fiona Connor, #8, Closed for Installation, Sequence of Events, Secession, Vienna (2019); Direct Address, 1301PE, Los Angeles, USA (2018); Closed Down Clubs, MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles (2018); Object Classrooms, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth (2018, 2008, 2004); Wallworks, Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne (2014) and A section of Something Transparent (please go round the back) II, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Auckland (2010).

Selected group exhibitions include: Walls to Live Beside, Rooms to Own: The Chartwell Show, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Auckland (2022); Daily Nightshift, Kunsthal Extra City, Antwerp (2020); Celebration of Our Enemies, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, Haunt, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, Berman Board, Armory Center for the Arts, Los Angeles (2019); Stories of Almost Everyone, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2018); Chicago Architecture Biennial (2017), 13th Istanbul Biennial (2013), the 1st and 2nd Los Angeles Biennials (2014, 2012).

Connor’s work is included in the following collections: Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University, Wellington, NZ; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, AUS; Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland, NZ; Burger Collection, Hong Kong, China; Chartwell Collection, Auckland, NZ; Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, Christchurch, NZ; Collezione La Gaia, Torino, IT; Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin, NZ; Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, NZ; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, USA; Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, USA; LACMA, Los Angeles, USA; Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne, AUS; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, USA; The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, NZ.