Stan VanDerBeek: Transmissions | Magenta Plains
Stan VanDerBeek, Untitled (Fax Mural Collage), © Estate of Stan VanDerBeek.
Courtesy of Stan VanDerBeek Archive and Magenta Plains, New York.
Written by Meighan Ashford
A thorough examination of the groundbreaking artist Stan VanDerBeek's work is presently on view at the "Transmissions" exhibition at Magenta Plains Gallery in New York City. Exhibiting VanDerBeek's visionary experiments with transmission, animation, and the recomposition of ephemeral media, the exhibition takes over three floors and features collages, drawings, and films from 1950 to 1970.
A profound understanding of the mediasphere's rapid transformation lay at the heart of VanDerBeek's ethos. In "CULTURE: Intercom and Expanded Cinema," his groundbreaking 1966 text urged the immediate use of the "maximum information devices" that were accessible at the time in "A Proposal and Manifesto." He saw how images were becoming more and more widely distributed, especially concerning state violence and political upheavals. To lessen the destruction caused by global warming, VanDerBeek argued that artists should adjust to these new circumstances of "visual velocity".
Stan VanDerBeek, Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II, 1970. © Estate of Stan VanDerBeek. Courtesy of Stan VanDerBeek Archive and Magenta Plains, New York.
The centerpiece of the show is VanDerBeek's enormous fax mural, "Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II," which he finished in 1970 while living at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT. This cooperative project sought to electronically infiltrate communities with art through partnerships with corporations and institutions. The Xerox machine-dispensed mural, made of painted and collaged sheets of paper, depicts a disorganized but poignant cultural landscape.
The intricate layers of media imagery and cultural debris are revealed by the original color collages and black-and-white faxed versions that are on display alongside the mural. To evoke a visceral reaction to the current socio-political climate, VanDerBeek juxtaposes advertising imagery with scenes of war, displacement, and protest in his compositions.
Stan VanDerBeek, Untitled (Fax Mural: Raised Fist), © Estate of Stan VanDerBeek. Courtesy of Stan VanDerBeek Archive and Magenta Plains, New York.
In addition, drawings that go with VanDerBeek's manifesto and 16mm film that documents the installation of the fax mural are on display. An especially striking piece is a big fax collage in the form of a fist that was created in response to the terrible events that occurred at Kent State in 1970. VanDerBeek emphasizes the unity of the international movements for justice and liberation by incorporating iconic Black Panther imagery.
Stan VanDerBeek, Skullduggery, © Estate of Stan VanDerBeek. Courtesy of Stan VanDerBeek Archive and Magenta Plains, New York.
The exhibition provides a thorough overview of VanDerBeek's groundbreaking body of work and was curated by Sara and Johannes VanDerBeek in association with Chelsea Spengemann. It signifies a noteworthy comeback of VanDerBeek's work to the art scene in New York City and offers spectators a contemporary perspective on the ability of art to interact with and subvert dominant socio-political narratives.
The Magenta Plains exhibition "Stan VanDerBeek: Transmissions", which will be on display from March 7 - April 20, honors the legacy of a trailblazing artist while also encouraging viewers to consider the lasting significance of his avant-garde investigations in a time of swift cultural and technological advancement.
Stan VanDerBeek, Astral Man, © Estate of Stan VanDerBeek. Courtesy of Stan VanDerBeek Archive and Magenta Plains, New York.
