Turnstyles/Adult Contempt | Eric Wesley

Project

The turnstile is something Wesley has been working on for a while. It has become a symbol for the artist, an antiquated object with the inner-workings of a time piece, making use of the “escapement mechanism” and the tic-toc that relates gravity to time. How can a three-headed machine be symmetrical? The models presented at the threshold of the house hope to solve this.

Moving into the living room, Adult Contempt plays opposite Wesley in this two-winged exhibition. Adult contemporary music is a music genre from the 80s, that could be described as a decent, respectable, highly functional version of pop music, designed and consumed by adults. With the label, contemporary turns to contempt.

'Beta Test', 2023, Brass, aluminium, copper and lythium on aluminium panel, 60 cm (diameter)
Installation view, 'Turnstyles/Adult Contempt' by Eric Wesley, April in Paris, 2023
'Turnstile Stainless', 2023, Cast aluminium, bronze and aluminium mechanism and electronics, 40 x 40 x 40 cm
'Turnstile Alloy', 2023, Cast plastic, Balsa wood, aluminium paint and electronics, 40 x 40 x 40 cm
'Painting Kid’s Couch', 2023, Mix media on canvas on wood frame and hinge, 165 x 230 cm

Moving into the living room, Adult Contempt plays opposite Wesley in this two-winged exhibition. Adult contemporary music is a music genre from the 80s, that could be described as a decent, respectable, highly functional version of pop music, designed and consumed by adults. With the label, contemporary turns to contempt.

Once in the living room, we see the familiar constellation of Orion, in the form of a wall-mounted lamp. Diagonally across the room, a second sconce represents the obscure constellation of Ophiuchus. If you are facing Orion, Ophiuchus is projected at your back and vice versa. These are the two halves of a single stone separated by the space we inhabit: altering our perspective and dimensionality. The objects themselves can be simply entertainment …or a link to the sublime?

'Five Note Proof', 2023, Mixed media, 30 x 60 cm (x2)
'Timbuctoo', 2023, Graphite on paper, 61 × 46 cm

Left: ‘Sometimes it’s better to come back as a horse than a queen’, 2023, Mixed media on paper, 54 × 46 cm

Right: ‘Fu Man Chu in Timbuctoo’, 2023, Mix media on paper, 61 × 46 cm

Eric Wesley was born in Los Angeles, California, where he continues to live and work. He has held solo exhibitions in galleries internationally as well as at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and Foundation Morra Greco in Naples, Italy.

Wesley has participated in numerous group-shows, including the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles; Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; P.S.1, New York; The Whitney, New York; Metro Pictures, New York; Musée d’Art Contemporain, Bordeaux, France; Fundación/Colección, Jumex, Mexico; Museo d’Arte, Benevento, Italy; The Prague Biennial; and the Studio Museum in Harlem.
In the Netherlands, his work has been exhibited at Bowie Van Valen gallery and is included in the collection of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Eric Wesley is also the co-founder of Mountain School of Art (MSA), Los Angeles, CA.