Art Hag

YOUR NAME HERE, artist Jonathan Monk's current show at Casey Kaplan, features photographs and drawings Monk created while living in Los Angeles during the 90's along with new sculptures created in marble, neon, and leather. The show also features the artist's Rew-Shay Hood Project, 2008-2011, reinterpretations of Ed Ruscha's famed 1967 black-and-white photography series Twentysix Gasoline Stations. With the help of a commercial, hot rod, airbrush artist in the Bronx, Monk recreated each of Ruscha's gas station photos on the hoods of twenty-six classic American muscle cars.

Monk pays homage to another major artist, Sol LeWitt, by recreating the "Sunrise" and "Sunset" in the title of LeWitt's 1980 book Sunrise and Sunset at Praiano in neon lettering utilizing the original typeface found on the book's cover. Monk also displays Polaroid photos of motels with accompanying stories affixed onto the wall in silvery letters. The descriptive and depressing stories describe the occupants of Room 11—a struggling, aspiring actress; an old, loveless couple; an abandoned dog... Monk's eight, cheeky, marble tombstones each have "YOUR NAME HERE" etched onto their surfaces in assorted fonts. The simple phrase raises questions about "identity and authorship" and increases "the level of uncertainty over the ownership of Monk's show" (from the press release). The Leicester, England-born, Berlin-based artist wittily rips off some artworld icons while cleverly examining ownership and copyright. Learn more at Caseykaplangallery.com. Through April 30th.

As Yet Untitled II, 2010