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Valentin Hauri and Rhea Myers at Last Tango

Duo Show, September 2 until November 13, 2022

Artists

Rhea Myers, Valentin Hauri

Institution

Last Tango

Location

Zurich

Download

Press release (PDF)

Website

lasttango.info

Exhibition View Duo Show «Valentin Hauri and Rhea Myers» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2022 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artists and Last Tango

The exhibition "Valentin Hauri & Rhea Myers" at Last Tango presents a unique confrontation between two artists with contrasting practices. Hauri's recent conceptual paintings, exploring the interplay between figuration and abstraction, are juxtaposed with Myers's NFT series "Tokens Equal Text," featuring cryptic lines of colored text describing unrelated objects.

Despite the formal differences in their works, both artists share a resolute conceptual approach. Hauri meticulously follows a protocol in producing his oil paintings, drawing inspiration from marginalized artists and emphasizing subjective vision over aesthetic calculation. Myers, on the other hand, utilizes the blockchain as a creative space to challenge assumptions about technology and culture, questioning the role of value and ownership in our virtual reality.

Myers's crypto-artworks from the series "Tokens Equal Text" encode text fragments into NFTs, referencing the Vapourwave movement without directly appropriating its aesthetics. By using algorithms to order and randomize lexical cues, Myers interrogates the ideological values of internet visual culture and challenges traditional artistic media.

Both Hauri and Myers employ reductionist strategies such as protocols and algorithms to distance themselves from their medium, questioning art's role in the contemporary cultural landscape. Their works embody a degree of encryption within their aesthetics, blurring the line between idea and aesthetic result and celebrating ambiguity and mystery.

At Last Tango, the exhibition reveals a queer ethos that unites the two artists, referencing marginalized life experiences and gender norms. Hauri's sources from James Bidgood and Henry Darger reflect gender and sexual deviance, while Myers's engagement with the blockchain resonates with her own trans identity.

Both artists dissociate form and content through conceptual procedures, reinterpreting pre-existing material to create visually striking works that provoke contemplation about the creative process. The exhibition at Last Tango challenges viewers to look beyond appearances and consider the underlying conceptual depth of the artworks on display.

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Exhibition View Duo Show «Valentin Hauri and Rhea Myers» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2022 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artists and Last Tango

Exhibition View Duo Show «Valentin Hauri and Rhea Myers; view on Valentin Hauri, Gallows, 2022, Oil on Canvas, 90 x 100 cm» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2022 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artist and Last Tango

Exhibition View Duo Show «Valentin Hauri and Rhea Myers» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2022 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artists and Last Tango

Exhibition View Duo Show «Valentin Hauri and Rhea Myers; view on Rhea Myers, Tokens Equals Text 4, 2022, Silkscreen on Paper, Edition of 32, 29.7 x 42 cm» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2022 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artist and Last Tango

Exhibition View Duo Show «Valentin Hauri and Rhea Myers; view on Valentin Hauri, Sitting Under a Willow Tree and At Cave Opening (Sandcastles), 2022, Oil on Canvas, 50 x 45 cm (each)» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2022 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artist and Last Tango

Exhibition View Duo Show «Valentin Hauri and Rhea Myers; view on Valentin Hauri, Pillars of Wood, 2022, Oil on Canvas, 50 x 45 cm» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2022 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artist and Last Tango

Exhibition View Duo Show «Valentin Hauri and Rhea Myers» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2022 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artists and Last Tango

Exhibition View Duo Show «Valentin Hauri and Rhea Myers; view on Valentin Hauri, High Voices, 2022, Oil on Canvas, 90 x 100 cm» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2022 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artist and Last Tango

Exhibition View Duo Show «Valentin Hauri and Rhea Myers; view on Valentin Hauri, Abbieannia Flag 1, 2021, Oil on Canvas, 45 x 50 cm» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2022 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artist and Last Tango

Exhibition View Duo Show «Valentin Hauri and Rhea Myers; view on Valentin Hauri, Gallows, 2022, Oil on Canvas, 50 x 45 cm» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2022 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artist and Last Tango

Exhibition View Duo Show «Valentin Hauri and Rhea Myers» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2022 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artists and Last Tango

Exhibition View Duo Show «Valentin Hauri and Rhea Myers; view on Rhea Myers, Tokens Equal Text 10, 2019, Ethereum ERC-998 and ERC-721 tokens» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2022 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artist and Last Tango

Exhibition View Duo Show «Valentin Hauri and Rhea Myers» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2022 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artists and Last Tango

Exhibition View Duo Show «Valentin Hauri and Rhea Myers; view on Valentin Hauri, Thunderstorm at Jennie Richee 1-3, 2022, Oil on Canvas, 90 x 100 cm (each)» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2022 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artist and Last Tango