Scott Kiernan
CMIKB

Mixed Greens is pleased to present a window installation by Scott Kiernan. Kiernan is known for his conceptual sound and video works as well as his collaging and collapsing of photographs. In CMIKB, Kiernan recontextualizes the renowned photograph, Leap into the Void, depicting Yves Klein jumping from the second story of a building.

In an exploration of Klein and his famous shade of blue, termed International Klein Blue (IKB), Kiernan discovered that the color is impossible to reproduce digitally. However, the internet provided a wealth of approximations, and as a result, Kiernan set out to create IKB in CMYK. He estimated what percentage cyan, magenta, yellow, and black actually make up IKB. The result is the three identical images that comprise the window installation—one printed only in cyan, one in magenta, and the other in yellow (there is no black in IKB). Each print uses only the percentage of pigment that IKB would use.

In addition to separating out Klein’s iconic color, Kiernan removed Klein from the photograph altogether. Subsequently, Leap into the Void becomes entirely about the void. The impression of freedom and abandon, however contrived, from the original photo is gone, leaving only the very calculated, intentional breakdown of color and form. Kiernan presents us with a new, digital void to ponder from our very own second floor windows.

Scott Kiernan received his MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2007 with a concentration in New Genres. He was a resident artist at Root Division in San Francisco from 2006-2007. Exhibition venues include Squeaky Wheel in Buffalo, NY; Jack the Pelican in Brooklyn, NY; Baer Ridgeway Exhibitions in San Francisco, CA; Dam Stuhltrager in Brooklyn, NY; PS 122 in NYC; Micaela Gallery in San Francisco, CA; and the New Life Berlin festival in Berlin, Germany; among many others. In 2008, he was included in the Third Guangzhou Triennial in China. He has curated numerous exhibitions and now owns and operates the gallery Louis V E.S.P. in Brooklyn, NY.

For more information, please visit scottkiernan.com.


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