1301PE is pleased to present its sixth solo exhibition with internationally revered Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija entitled “NO MORE REALITY (FOR PP)”. In August 2020, Tiravanija collected American newspapers that are still published daily. This is the starting point for “NO MORE REALITY” which references Philippe Parreno’s seminal 1991-93 series of work. Focusing on this phrase in large painted text which forms an expansive floor to ceiling installation, while upstairs Tiravanija refines it to a single text per the front and back page of the newspaper. The phrase continually renews itself through Tiravanija’s work and finds new relevancy each time it is exhibited–it purposefully welcomes its reinterpretation and renewal. The phrase “NO MORE REALITY,” which invites a certain interpretation, pushes back on the viewer’s preconceived notions commenting not on the news itself but of the interpretation of the news. The varied newspapers come from different towns with different ideas, politics and beliefs which in turn is reflected by what is valued and displayed by the local news.

“Everywhere, we feel the shift of power under our feet; how can we not address it, even with our tongues in our cheeks!” -Rirkrit Tiravanija

For more than thirty years, Tiravanija’s work has had resounding effects on the entire field of contemporary art. Participation, both active and passive, has been a primary element of his artistic practice, which in a way that is unique to Tiravanija dissolves the onlooker and object dichotomy. 

Tiravanija’s work has been the subject of numerous major museum exhibitions including: the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C. (2019); Luma Arles, France (2018); Bonnierskonsthall, Stockholm (2011); the Guggenheim Museum, New York (2005), the Serpentine Gallery, London (2005); ARC Musee d’Art Moderne, Paris (2005); the Secession, Vienna (2002), and the Sculpture Project Munster (1997). As well as significant group exhibitions including: The Paradox of Stillness…, the Walker Museum, Minneapolis (2020); Take Me (I’m Yours), the Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan (2017); Being Modern: MoMA in Paris, the Fondation Louis Vuitton (2017); Take It or Leave It, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2014); All The World’s Futures, the Venice Biennale (2013); Day For Night, the Whitney Biennial, New York (2006); Public Offerings, MOCA, Los Angeles (2001); Crossings, the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (1998); Traffic, CAPC Musee d’Art Contemporain, Bordeaux (1996); the Whitney Biennial, New York (1995). He lives and works in New York, Berlin, and Chiang Mai.

1301PE is pleased to present its fourth solo exhibition with Mexican artist Jorge Méndez Blake titled “I remember it was raining...” The exhibition centers around Méndez Blake’s dismantling of American poet Elizabeth Bishop’s (1911-1971) poems Dimensions for a Novel, The Flood, Electric Storm and Rain Towards Morning. These

component parts will coalesce as paintings and a ceiling mural. Two additional large paintings using the form of the famous calligrammes by Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918) will continue his Il Pleut Fort paintings.

“...writing is itself a kind of construction and reading is a way of creation.” -Jorge Méndez Blake For more than twenty years, Méndez Blake’s use of structure, both literary and physical, has

always been of paramount importance. His use of the concrete poetic form becomes an important focal point, concentrating and distilling the artist’s varied interests around language, form, meaning-making and our relationship to life.

Jorge Méndez Blake’s (b. 1974) work has been the subject of solo exhibitions in museums, including a commission for the Bass Museum in Miami (2022); the Museo Tamayo (2020) and the Museo de Arte Moderno (2019); MARFA Contemporary (2017); the Kunsthalle Mulhouse (2015); the Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (2015); the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver (2014); Museo D'Arte Contemporanea Villa Croce (2012); the Museum of Latin American Art, Los Angeles (2010). His work has been part of group shows at the National Gallery of Victoria (2017); the Hessel Museum of Art (2016); the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara (2014); the Frankendael Foundation (2013); the Queensland Art Gallery, Australia (2013); the Fundación Marcelino Botin (2012); the Aspen Art Museum (2012); the Museé d’Art Moderne (2011); Artspace (2011); the Bass Museum (2009); the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam (2009) and the Casa Encendida (2005).

1301PE is pleased to announce its first solo exhibition with Australian artist Jonny Niesche. An alchemist of color, light, and form, Niesche’s work dances with the viewer—a routine of subterfuge and grace, a deft painterly discotheque dressage abound with vitality. The surface of the work is alive, as is the border, changing with you and the time you view it.

“I’m not trying to create an optical illusion as much as I’m trying to manipulate aesthetic experiences. The viewers’ perception is challenged, which hopefully slows down the viewing experience.” –Jonny Niesche

In Haptic sfumato, Niesche presents a variety of new works. Sfumato is considered to be one of the main techniques of Italian High Renaissance painting. The word describes the gentle gradation and blending of one tone to another. Three works of vertical rectangles, a motif which he has used separately, has now been melded together. These rectangular works contrast with the unity of the large scale, brass bounded works, which are executed in Niesche’s signature style. Here he has iterated the creation of these works to include a study size and intermediary size, which echoes their fashion week inspiration.

The work carefully elides traditional dichotomies eroding distinctions and celebrating the indeterminacy of its categorization. The moiré effect of the voile surfaces are akin to looking at your reflection in a jewel case—not enough to place the viewer firmly there but with just enough subtlety to remind you of your own subjectivity before the work. Niesche’s work has long drawn inspiration from fashion, cosmetics and music. These three interests coalesce into the works having been inspired by Niesche’s travels to this year’s Milan and Paris Fashion week. Niesche’s work is always infused with his surroundings, and his work is carefully orchestrated to reflect these sensibilities

Jonny Niesche (b. Sydney, 1972) graduated with a Master of Visual Arts, from Sydney University, AU in 2013. Recent solo and group exhibitions include: Furry Light at WestLotto Münster (2022); Atoms Encode at 1301SW (2022); Dreaming after all, is a form of planning at 1301PE (2021); poikilos at STARKWHITE (2020); Zeller van Almsick (2020); Ways of Seeing, Art Gallery of South Australia (2019); Sculptur Garden, Vienna (2019); New Acquisitions from the Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2019); Museum of Contemporary Art Commission for Vivid festival, Sydney (2018); Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2018); Shut up and Paint, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2016).