Fred Tomaselli

SITE SANTA FE PRESENTS MAJOR SURVEY OF WORKS BY FRED TOMASELLI March 16 - June 2, 2002 Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA - SITE Santa Fe presents FRED TOMASELLI, an exhibition of mixed-media paintings organized by The Palm Beach Institute for Contemporary Art, from March 16 through June 2, 2002, with a free public opening reception on Friday, March 15, 6-7 p.m. There will be a gallery talk with the artist at 5 pm on Saturday, March 16. A full color catalogue published by Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, with essays by exhibition curator Amy Cappellazzo and author Rick Moody, will accompany the exhibition. Since the early 1990s, Fred Tomaselli has examined the sublime in suburban American culture. The artist arranges hemp leaves, jimson weed, and pills ranging from aspirin to Prozac in psychedelic patterns and covers them with layers of resin. Images from nature such as birds, flora, and fauna, are intertwined with the drugs. Tomaselli states, "All drugs manipulate reality on some level." The artist manipulates reality by challenging the viewer's visual concepts of drugs and pills, turning them into patterns that please the eye. His use of substances possessing the power to both heal and destroy are part of a larger recurring theme in the artist's work, in which he explores the ways we seek to alter reality. In pieces such as Desert Bloom (2000), Tomaselli literally connects the homes of Utopian visionaries such as Henry David Thoreau, religious and hippie communes, and the homes of Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber) and Charles Manson. Examined together these images can be seen as, perhaps, a dysfunctional paradise. There are over 30 works in the exhibition, including major paintings such as Gravity's Rainbow (1999); New Jerusalem (1998); and All the Birds I Can Remember Seeing/All the Drugs I Can Remember Taking (1996). The works chosen for this show compose a fully comprehensive exhibition of 10 years of work by Tomaselli and illustrate how the artist has consistently commented on the escapist nature of American society and the need to both seek out and critique Utopian ways of life. The exhibition was organized by The Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, Lake Worth, Florida, and Amy Cappellazzo, Visiting Curator, and made possible through the generous support of Robert and Mary Montgomery with additional support provided by Atelier 4 Shipping, Inc. The SITE Santa Fe presentation of the exhibition was made possible in part by Nancy and Dr. Robert C. Magoon. Concurrently with FRED TOMASELLI, SITE Santa Fe presents an exhibition of photographic works by THOMAS DEMAND (through June 2, 2002), and a DVD projection by YASUMASA MORIMURA (through April 28, 2002). Fred Tomaselli: Ten Year Survey is the full-color catalogue that accompanies the exhibition. It is designed by COMA (Amsterdam and New York), published by The Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, and distributed by D.A.P. Distributed Art Publishers, Inc. of New York ($30). SITE Santa Fe is located at 1606 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Exhibition hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.; Friday, 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Admission is $5.00 for adults and $2.50 for students, teachers and seniors; members are free. Free admission is offered on Fridays and this is made possible by a grant from The Brown Foundation, Inc., Houston. Free guided tours are offered on Fridays at 6:00 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. Tours in Spanish are by appointment. SITE Santa Fe gift certificates are available. Call 505.989.1199 for more information. This announcement is partially funded by the City of Santa Fe Arts Commission and the 1% Lodgers' Tax. VISUALS AVAILABLE Contact: Press Office Tel: 505.989.1199 Fax:505.989.1188 email: press@sitesantafe.org

Echo Wow and Flutter, 2000 Leaves, pills, photocollage, acrylic, resin on wood panels 84 x 120 inches Collection of AlbrightKnox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, James G. Forsyth Fund, 2001