.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
‘If you’re going to make an original statement in painting, you also have to address its history. All artists, but especially painters, have to deal with the issue of art in the age of mechanical reproduction’
–Avery Singer
Executed in 2011, Cycladic Mask is a jewel-like early work by New York-based artist Avery Singer. Rendered in monochrome like a still from a black-and-white film, it depicts Alberto Giacometti’s Head-Skull (1933-34), housed in the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Singer, who was born and raised in Manhattan, spent many hours there as a child, accompanied by her father who worked at the museum as a projectionist. Steeped in references to twentieth- century art history, her work sits at a fascinating junction between media. Trained as a sculptor, with an avid interest in film, she works primarily in the medium of paint, combining analogue techniques with digital technology. She initially experimented with Photoshop, creating flattened digital images that she would then sketch by hand. As her practice progressed, she began to use the 3D modelling software Google SketchUp to create virtual compositions, which she would then project onto canvas and complete using masking tape and an airbrush. Strewn with subtle humour and irony, inspired by comedians such as Woody Allen and Zero Mostel, her works evolved to address the mechanics of the art world, depicting fictionalised scenarios that frequently lampoon its romanticised myths. Predating this strain of her practice, the present painting is an elegant expression of her artistic roots, demonstrating the critical engagement with Modernism that lies at the heart of her work. Singer has risen to prominence over the past five years, with acclaimed solo exhibitions at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, the Kunsthalle Zurich, the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam and the Vienna Secession.
–Avery Singer
Executed in 2011, Cycladic Mask is a jewel-like early work by New York-based artist Avery Singer. Rendered in monochrome like a still from a black-and-white film, it depicts Alberto Giacometti’s Head-Skull (1933-34), housed in the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Singer, who was born and raised in Manhattan, spent many hours there as a child, accompanied by her father who worked at the museum as a projectionist. Steeped in references to twentieth- century art history, her work sits at a fascinating junction between media. Trained as a sculptor, with an avid interest in film, she works primarily in the medium of paint, combining analogue techniques with digital technology. She initially experimented with Photoshop, creating flattened digital images that she would then sketch by hand. As her practice progressed, she began to use the 3D modelling software Google SketchUp to create virtual compositions, which she would then project onto canvas and complete using masking tape and an airbrush. Strewn with subtle humour and irony, inspired by comedians such as Woody Allen and Zero Mostel, her works evolved to address the mechanics of the art world, depicting fictionalised scenarios that frequently lampoon its romanticised myths. Predating this strain of her practice, the present painting is an elegant expression of her artistic roots, demonstrating the critical engagement with Modernism that lies at the heart of her work. Singer has risen to prominence over the past five years, with acclaimed solo exhibitions at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, the Kunsthalle Zurich, the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam and the Vienna Secession.