curated by: Harriet Salmon, Jason Tomme & Ana Wolovick
Press Release:
Whizzer (n.)
A weird fake motorcycle. 2. v. in amateur wrestling, a slick way to reverse an opponent’s takedown. 3. proper n. a Marvel Comics character who gains superhuman speed due to a childhood transfusion of mongoose blood. Later in life, Whizzer becomes a depressed alcoholic who spends some time destitute on the Bowery.
In this sense, “Whizzer” is a matter of mechanics, where forces get enhanced or reversed, and things are no longer what they seem.
The Whizzer show includes works that present a type of enhancement and reversal. In the spirit of wrestling, motorcycle riding and inventing flawed superheroes, there is an element of play and subterfuge. Physical materials, forms, color, situation, are hyped, twisted, stymied, looped, contradicted, redeemed. The result is work that begins with a material proposition (ceramics, 3d composite, paper, paint, found image, found object) and creates a delightfully destitute center of gravity, or as the wrestler seeks: good leverage position.
