This exhibition is about laboring, setbacks, and production. It is about categories of objects and materials – their use, misuse, and uselessness. It is about actions performed (or not performed) out of some kind of anxiety, dissatisfaction, confusion or pleasure.

It focuses on how a disparate selection of individuals work through and against certain material and conceptual frameworks. At times it is the literal framework of the exhibition architecture or conventions of display; or maybe a specific type of metal or wood; or the real world demands to fabricate deliverables on deadline. At others times the works point towards the broader conceptual and ideological framework of the studio, the artist, the gallery, the curator, and the artwork itself – each of which are understood as being in flux and negotiable.

The artists in this exhibition thematize this negotiation (between figure and ground, so to speak) through incessant material investigation, play and inquiry. This way of working does not produce a recognizable aesthetic, nor is it meant to reaffirm an historical category such as Process Art – to do so would be a contradiction. Instead, it constitutes a certain ethic of making. This ethic is the theme of the exhibition.

– Daniel Lefcourt

Uri Aran was born in Israel and lives and works in New York.  In 2013 he had a solo exhibition at the Kunsthalle Zurich, Switzerland.  He has also been included in the 2013 Venice Biennale, Venice; and in exhibitions at The American Academy, Rome; MoMA PS1, New York; The Sculpture Center, New York and The New Museum, New York.

Hanne Darboven was born in Munich in 1941 and died in Hamburg in 2009.  Her work has been widely exhibited internationally, including Documenta 5, 6, and 7, Kassel; the German Pavilion of the 1982 Venice Biennale and The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Marc Ganzglass was born in Washinton, D.C. and lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. His work has been shown at Regionale XII, Steirmark; Chinati Foundation, Marfa; and Moderna Museet, Stockholm.

Virginia Overton was born in Tennessee and lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.  In 2013 she had a solo exhibiton at the Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland and the Wasfälischer Kunstverein, Münster.  Her work has been included exhibitions at MoMA PS1, SculptureCenter, and White Columns, New York; and White Flags Projects, St. Louis.

Manfred Pernice was born in Hildesheim, Germany and lives and works in Berlin.  In the past three years Manfred Pernice has had solo exhibitions at Haus der Kunst, Germany; S.M.A.K. Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Belgium; and CEAAC, France.

Nora Schultz was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany and lives and works in Berlin.  Her work has been shown at Koelnischer Kunstverein, Cologne; Fondazione Giuliani, Rome; and The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Renaissance Society, Chicago will feature a solo-show of her work from January – February 2014.

Joëlle Tuerlinckx was born in Brussels, where she continues to live and work.  In 2013 Tuerlinckx was the subject of a retrospective organized by the Haus der Kunst, Munich, and traveled to WIELS, Brussels and the Arnolfini, Bristol.  She has also been the subject of solo exhibitions at The Renaissance Society, Chicago; and the Museo National Centro de la Reina Sofia, Madrid.