[Back to artist listing] EMERGING ARTISTS
Bestué-Vives, Martha Colburn, and Gonzalo Lebrija
October 1–31, 2009




(September 29, New York, NY) At 44 1/2, Creative Time’s presentation of video art on MTV’s outdoor, gilded screen located in the heart of New York City’s Times Square, will showcase video art by three emerging artists: Bestué-Vives, Martha Colburn, and Gonzalo Lebrija.

Creative Time kicked off At 44 1/2 with the overwhelmingly successful presentation of Shallow by Malcolm McLaren in June 2008, and was followed by selections from Mark Tribe’s Port Huron Project, reenactments of classic New Left speeches; early work by the legendary Gilbert & George; and a presentation of work by three emerging artists including Matt Calderwood, Mika Rottenberg, and Guido van der Werve. The program continued with a series curated by artist Marilyn Minter, which included her own work and that of Patty Chang and Kate Gilmore. Most recently, Creative Time presented the work of acclaimed artist Steve McQueen.

In Martha Colburn’s Triumph of the Wild, Colburn re-imagines three momentous wars in America’s history—the American Revolution, World War I, and World War II—as attacks by man on nature. Soldiers frantically pursue idealized woodland creatures only to be brutally attacked with their own weapons. Bestué-Vives’ Proteo is a mesmorizing video loop in which a running figure continuously transforms from a man, to a horse, to a car, and back to a man in a low-tech and humorous aesthetic. In Gonzalo Lebrija’s Asterión, a neatly dressed businessman mounts a bull for a nighttime rodeo ride. As the man loses his grip on his briefcase, the paper contents flutter to the ground, joining the man and the bull in a graceful, slow-motion dance. Lebrija brings the human and beast together in close contrast.

The larger than life, high definition 44 1/2 screen is located on Broadway between 44th and 45th Streets, directly across the street from MTV’s offices and studio. At 44 1/2 is part of Creative Time’s long history of presenting public art in Times Square.

“Creative Time is thrilled to bring three of the most exciting young artists working today to the heart of New York City,” said Anne Pasternak, president and artistic director of Creative Time. “And we are grateful for MTV’s commitment to supporting art in the public realm.”

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
David Bestué and Marc Vives both live and work in Barcelona, Spain. Through their work in video, theater, and photography, Bestué and Vives explore an absurdity in the ludicrous actions and objects of everyday life. Bestué-Vives exhibited Proteo in the Spanish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2009. They are represented by the Galeria Estrany-de la Mota in Barcelona.

Martha Colburn was born in 1972 in Pennsylvania and currently lives and works in Long Island City, New York. Colburn uses collage, puzzle pieces, and paint on mixed media in stop animation to consider contemporary politics and popular culture in provoking and, at times, humorous ways. Colburn has exhibited at Art Basel in Switzerland and the Sundance Film Festival as a New Frontier filmmaker. She is represented by Galerie Diana Stigter in Amsterdam.

Gonzalo Lebrija was born in 1972 in Guadalajara, Mexico. Lebrija frequently works in photography and film, taking corporate culture and landscape as conceptual basis for his art. His work has been shown at the Americas Society in New York and at the San Diego Art Museum in California. He is represented by I-20 Gallery in New York.