Dorsch Gallery in Miami will present "A Perfect Human"

Tuesday, 27 January 2009 20:52

Miami, FL - Dorsch Gallery will present A Perfect Human, a group exhibition of video, sculpture, sound and film, curated by Milena Hoegsberg and Megha Ralapati. A Perfect Human aims to explore notions of perfection and the ideals and the cultural systems and symbols that reinforce them. In a variety of ways the works question how we stage, package, and present ourselves, and how we communicate and connect with each other and the world. On view January 31 through February 28, 2009. Opening reception: January 31, 2009, 7-10 pm.

Joergen Leth's 1967 short film The Perfect Human (Det Perfekte Menneske), from which the show takes its title, portrays the habits and personal rituals of an attractive man and woman, demonstrating the ideal of a middle class couple living in Denmark in the late 1960s.  The couple, presented "in a room with no walls" appears both to be performers on stage as well as creatures in a fishbowl.  The viewer is allowed a peek into their inner world, learning how they sleep, drink their champagne and entertain themselves.  Though the work predates reality television, it demonstrates the universal interest in the voyeuristic experience as a means of comparing one’s life to the lives of others.

Bandi 2008 is a single-channel video that presents artist Zhao Bandi practicing for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, upon learning that these important games are to be held in China. Pretending to be overcome with patriotic fervor, the artist runs through China, torch in hand and adorned with a stuffed panda bear.  He passes through different landscapes and centuries in Chinese history finally arriving in 2008.  The artist humorously questions the status of the Olympics as the pinnacle of physical capability for an athlete as well as the height of achievement for a nation.

Melissa Dubbin and Aaron S. Davidson's Making a Record (Diamond) features an interview with graduate gemologist and jeweler Karen L. Davidson, who discusses the characteristics of diamonds, celebrated both for their flawless beauty and unsurpassed durability, and expresses her thoughts from over 30 years of experience working with the gem. The artists explore the diamond's dual function as an object of adornment and as an industrial tool. On view is the album cover, with a photograph depicting the process of cutting the record and a transcript of the interview, and the album itself, cut using the gemstone being described. Although it is a relatively common stone, society has successfully branded the diamond as precious and exclusive, revealing little about its other functions. This work is from the series 'Making a Record l Diamond l Ruby l Sapphire l Emerald'.

Martin Basher's totemic sculpture, a neat single stack of self-help books built to the height of the average American, 5'7", represents our futile quest for physical, psychological, and spiritual perfection.  The tower of books reveals little more about their subject than the titles, each of which provide a concise summary of both the problem and solution, often labeling the reader as deficient or weak.  Basher aims to address the fact that these books are, in actuality, part of the problem they propose to solve.

In the colorful video, The Living Room, artist Patrick McElnea's conflates photographs and magazine cut-outs of architectural interiors and exteriors, real space and pictorial space, creating a theatrical stage set that forms the backdrop for his exploration of various identities. Probing the pictorial relationship between figure and ground, the artist moves about in an abstracted version of his parents' New York and L.A. apartments, seemingly suggesting that he is the schizophrenic byproduct of a perfect environment.

Sreshta Premnath's Green Screen is an unidentifiable, life-size human silhouette produced by the negative space that has been cut from a large sheet of green paper.  The figure extends one arm outward in a posture that may denote a salute or a wave.  The seemingly authoritative figure acts as a template onto which any identity and, subsequently, any emotion can be projected. The work brings to mind the highly successful political branding of the unlikely candidate Barack Obama, who circumstantially became the perfect presidential candidate for the job--a symbol of the possibility for national change.

A Perfect Human is part of Dorsch Gallery’s mission - to bring active up-and-coming artists and curators to Miami, building significant relationships with tomorrow’s tastemakers.

About the curators

Having grown up in Denmark, Milena Hoegsberg was educated at Columbia University, where she earned her Bachelors in Art History, and later received her MA from the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College. Her thesis exhibition, Another Time, included work by Chen Chieh-jen, Tacita Dean, and Peter Hutton. She worked with curator Maria Lind on The Greenroom: Reconsidering the Documentary and Contemporary Art, a group exhibition and research project at The Hessel Museum of Art in 2008. Hoegsberg works as an independent curator and consultant in New York.

Megha Ralapati received a BA from Columbia University in Art History and Anthropology. Her professional focus has been modern and contemporary art from South Asia and the diaspora. Ralapati assisted on New Narratives:  Contemporary Art from India, an exhibition in 2007 at the Chicago Cultural Center. She is currently Director of Bose Pacia, a gallery that has been showing art from South Asia for the last 15 years. Bose Pacia partners with Nature Morte, continuing with this programming in Delhi, Calcutta and now Berlin.   

About Dorsch Gallery

Since 1993, Dorsch Gallery has nurtured the development of its artists through both personal and professional relationships. In the process, the gallery’s founder Brook Dorsch learned a great deal about these artists’ practices. In keeping with this dig-deep philosophy, Dorsch and his wife, Tyler, organize events that allow viewers a glimpse into what goes into the art. In order to provide its artists with new contexts, Dorsch Gallery strives to expand the presence of these artists’ work nationally and internationally.  As Dorsch Gallery has long maintained a connection to the arts scene at large, the Dorsches will continue to involve the gallery in Tigertail Productions, Interdisciplinary Sound Arts Workshop, Dixie Dingo Film Festival and other alternative events. Such extensions further engender aesthetic and conceptual creativity, fostering more critical art making, viewing and discourse.Dorsch Gallery is located at 151 NW 24 Street, Miami, FL. Contact us at 305-576-1278 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . We are open Tuesday-Saturday 11-6pm. For more information, visit www.dorschgallery.com.