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Martin Kersels on Cover Story at Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, 2019

MARTIN KERSELS
Bill Cosby 8:15 12:15
2019
Wood, LP sleeves, motor, power cord and aluminum
51 3/8 by 32 by 12 3/8 in.  130.5 by 81.3 by 31.4 cm.

MARTIN KERSELS
Self Portrait
2019
Wood, LP sleeves, motors, light bulb, electric cord, red disc and teflon
40 1/8 by 22 by 14 5/8 in.  101.9 by 55.9 by 37.1 cm.

MARTIN KERSELS
Self Portrait (side view)
2019
Wood, LP sleeves, motors, light bulb, electric cord, red disc and teflon
40 1/8 by 22 by 14 5/8 in.  101.9 by 55.9 by 37.1 cm.

MARTIN KERSELS
Fury of the Brave Bulls
2018
Wood, LP sleeves, motor, aluminum and power cord
25 1/2 by 14 1/8 by 6 1/2 in.  64.8 by 35.9 by 16.5 cm.

MARTIN KERSELS Self Portrait 2019

MARTIN KERSELS
Self Portrait
2019
Wood, LP sleeves, motors, light bulb, electric cord, red disc and teflon
40 1/8 by 22 by 14 5/8 in.  101.9 by 55.9 by 37.1 cm.
 

MARTIN KERSELS Snoopy vs. the Red Baron 2019

MARTIN KERSELS
Snoopy vs. the Red Baron
2019
Wood, LP sleeves and travel trunk lid
46 3/4 by 43 3/4 by 19 3/4 in.  118.7 by 111.1 by 50.2 cm.

MARTIN KERSELS Living My Life 2019

MARTIN KERSELS
Living My Life
2019
Wood and LP sleeves
34 3/4 by 48 by 12 in.  88.3 by 121.9 by 30.5 cm.

MARTIN KERSELS Bill Cosby 8:15 12:15 2019

MARTIN KERSELS
Bill Cosby 8:15 12:15
2019
Wood, LP sleeves, motor, power cord and aluminum
51 3/8 by 32 by 12 3/8 in.  130.5 by 81.3 by 31.4 cm.

MARTIN KERSELS El Dorado 2018

MARTIN KERSELS
El Dorado
2018
Wood and LP sleeves
32 3/4 by 22 1/4 by 8 3/4 in.  83.2 by 56.5 by 22.2 cm.

MARTIN KERSELS Guitars, Cadillacs, etc. 2019

MARTIN KERSELS
Guitars, Cadillacs, etc.
2019
Wood and LP sleeves
22 by 17 3/8 by 12 in.  55.9 by 44.1 by 30.5 cm.

MARTIN KERSELS Seductive Reasoning 2018

MARTIN KERSELS
Seductive Reasoning
2018
Wood and LP sleeves
32 by 25 1/2 by 10 7/8 in.  81.3 by 64.8 by 27.6 cm.

MARTIN KERSELS Fury of the Brave Bulls 2018

MARTIN KERSELS
Fury of the Brave Bulls
2018
Wood, LP sleeves, motor, aluminum and power cord
25 1/2 by 14 1/8 by 6 1/2 in.  64.8 by 35.9 by 16.5 cm.

MARTIN KERSELS Blue Streak 2019

MARTIN KERSELS
Blue Streak
2019
Wood and LP sleeves
58 by 38 by 15 in.  147.32 by 96.52 by 38.1 cm. 

Press Release

Mitchell-Innes & Nash is pleased to present Cover Story, a solo exhibition of new work by Martin Kersels. On view at the gallery’s Chelsea location, this will be the artist’s second solo show with Mitchell-Innes & Nash and will feature a series of new sculptural wall pieces.

Assembled largely with wood and found LP record sleeves, the works on view in Cover Story explore an aesthetic strategy that Kersels calls “materially limited bricolage.” 

Sharing in the visual and conceptual legacy of H.C. Westermann, Martin Kersels also draws influences from French new realists like Jacques Villeglé and Jean Tinguely, as well as from Dadaist collagists Kurt Schwitters and Hannah Hoch. Like his predecessors, Kersels’s work strives for an aura of immediacy, shunning the eternal timelessness that is often sought in more traditional modes of art like oil painting or bronze sculpture. With this exhibition, the artist seeks to engage with the “near finite”—that is to say, the immediate world around us in both temporal and spatial terms. Kersels makes a point to note that the size of the LPs correspond directly to the allowable runtime of the music recorded, highlighting the compression of time and space inherent in a vinyl recording.

In making this body of work, Kersels was also interested in “breaking the stillness” and several pieces in the exhibition feature an internal motor that powers a moving component. In The Love Hours (for Mike Kelley), for instance, the artist has incorporated a rotating dial, not unlike a tonearm on a record player or a clock hand, which reveals a cutout of an eye as it turns. Eyes play a significant role in the visual lexicon of Kersels’s recent work; they offer up moments of reflection and the artist has likened the imagery on LP sleeves to portraits or mirrors- ones that allow the viewer to “pour their own thoughts and emotions into it.”

Cover Story will be accompanied by a new performance piece by the artist in which, dressed in costume, Kersels will activate the site-specific stage at the center of the gallery space with a three-song aural collage. Performances will take place at the opening reception and again on Saturday, May 4 at 2:30 PM.