Just Like Courbet's. Except for a Few Tiny Details.

New York Times

June 5, 2023

By Barbara Pollack

An artist's life is supposed to be riddled with isolation and despair, but for the multimedia artist Tony Oursler, inspired ideas are sparked by thoughtful collaborations. So, when the Musée d'Orsay in Paris invited him to create a work in response to any painting in its collection last year, Mr. Oursler's wife, Jacqueline Humphries, an accomplished painter in her own right, suggested that he take a look at Courbet's 1855 masterwork, "The Artist's Studio: A Real Allegory of a Seven-Year Phase in My Artistic and Moral Life."

Mr. Oursler was immediately struck by the scale and intricacies of Courbet's crowded studioscape, peopled by supporters and patrons on one side of the canvas and caricatures of political leaders on the opposite end of the studio. He went to work on his own mythological version of his working-environment, a 21st-century studio filled with projectors, computers and surveillance cameras, and invited friends, colleagues, supporters and his dealer to make guest appearances in his piece.

When Gary Tinterow, head of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's new department of 19th-century, modern and contemporary art, saw Mr. Oursler's installation at the Musée d'Orsay museum in Paris, he immediately invited him to bring it to the Met, where a revamped version is on view through Sept. 18, called "Studio: Seven Months of My Aesthetic Education (Plus Some)." With a reproduction of the Courbet on one wall, it is easy to compare and contrast the two artists' very different approaches to the classic subject of the studio.

Courbet takes a decidedly egocentric view - the painter is at the center of the canvas, overseen by an adoring female model - whereas Mr. Oursler shares the stage with a community of people who in one way or another have contributed to his art production. Despite the obvious differences in philosophy, temperament and medium, however, Mr. Oursler manages to convey the spirit and complexity of the 19th-century painting, using multiple video projections and borrowing artworks from a score of colleagues to construct an equally rich social environment.

TONY OURSLER: SOUND DIGRESSIONS IN SEVEN COLORS

On view at Nyehaus from February 25th – April, 2006.

Sound Digressions in Seven Colors is the culmination of several projects that Tony Oursler has been experimenting with for a number of years. A perpetually changing piece of music, this idea first took hold in Oursler’s mind while at Cal Arts and attending lectures by John Cage. For this project, the performers were recorded and then recombined in an installation setting to experiment with chance recombination. Each performer was not told what the other one would play, only that they would be mixed with 6 other players. In this way, an exquisite corpse was developed between the players. Oursler chose the musical elements with the performers but asked the musicians to improvise, keeping in mind that there would be 6 other performers. Once the performances were captured in high quality sound and video, they were projected upon a specially designed video screen that allows the viewer to see the image from both sides. Each screen is 4x6 feet and has speakers mounted directly into the surface of the screen; thus the music comes from the image of each player.

Most of the seven musicians have collaborated with Oursler extensively in the past but never in such a simple and direct music and image installation. The editing of the musicians from screen to screen and the phasing of the relationship between the music allows for endless combinations to develop live in the exhibition space, thus extending the improvisational elements of the work. Music has been a large part of Oursler’s work but never has he created a purely visual and musical experience in an installation. The seven colors relate to the primary, secondary and black spectrums that have in the past been related to various musical structures. While studying the obscure color theories of Edwin D. Babbitt and Roland Hunt, Oursler was inspired by their association with color and music and the possibilities implied. In this project, Oursler has chosen to assign colors to each musician in an intuitive manor. In addition, graphic images of the actual waveforms being produced from the instruments, as depicted on computer editing systems, have been mixed into the video elements.

This installation is reliant on the immense talent and generosity of the seven performers. Due to the chance elements involved in this production Oursler worked with performers who’s work he knew would be challenging and experimental.

Kim Gordon, best known for her vocal and bass work in Sonic Youth, recently completed an hour long collaboration with Oursler and Phil Morrison titled Perfect Partner, a live mix of two projections the Kim Gordon Band. Gordon is also a multi media artist, showing her work regularly at various venues.

Tony Conrad, a major figure in the minimalist movement, is best know for his drone violin works and The Flicker Film from that period. He has continued to morph into various creative endeavors. Oursler has worked with Conrad since he first met him in the early 80’s on film-sound and video projects. Conrad produced the sound track for the installation Blue Invasion in Sidney Australia earlier this year.

Stephen Vitiello is best known for his sound installation, as well as his live performances. He uses an ephemeral approach to sound that has intrigued listeners around the world. Oursler, Constance Dejong and Vitiello produced a major collaboration Fantastic Prayers and interactive CD-rom with the DIA foundation in 2000.

Lee Ranaldo is a guitarist with the band Sonic Youth known for his virtuosity and searing solos and has done numerous cinematic installations and collaborations with his wife Lea and Alan Licht. His experimental use of a de-tuned instrument has effected generations of rock music.

Zeena Parkins’ transformative use of the harp has produced amazing results. Her range and intensity has taken an instrument that has been known for its classical use, electrified it, thus redefining it in the process. Ikue Mori was a member of the legendary band DNA. Although she plays numerous interments, in this installation she plays from a laptop.

J.G. Thirlwell has produced an enormous and extremely influencing volume of work in numerous guises, most notably Foetus. For Oursler’s installation piece, Thirlwell worked with a bowed instrument that, when electrified, combines with water within the instrument to produce haunting tones. A joint opening reception will be held on Saturday, February 25: Metro Pictures from 5-7pm and Nyehaus from 7- 8:30pm.

Nyhaus is a commercial project space founded by devoted contemporary art collector and curator Tim Nye. In addition, Nyehaus commissions new works in order to expand and enliven the dialogue within an artist's oeuvre. Located in the National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, 8D. Nyehaus is open from 11am – 6pm Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, please visit www.nyehaus.com or contact Allison Wilbur at 212.995.1785.