Sean Kelly is delighted to announce Kris Martin's first solo exhibition with the gallery, ?DO GEESE SEE GOD?, an unprecedented exhibition and artistic intervention occupying two distinct venues. This groundbreaking two-part exhibition will occur simultaneously at Saint Bavo's Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium, home to the world-renowned painting by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, commonly referred to as the Ghent Altarpiece, and at Sean Kelly Gallery in New York. In a unique collaboration, Martin has been granted exclusive access to work in St. Bavo's, integrating his site-specific artwork into the very fabric of the cathedral. Remarkably, he has even been allowed to insert an art work into the armature of the Ghent Altarpiece itself. In parallel to Martin's extraordinary access in the cathedral, he will install corresponding works in the front and lower galleries at Sean Kelly, New York. This unique dual exhibition juxtaposes Martin's work in both a historic Gothic site of worship and a 21st century contemporary art gallery. There will be an opening reception at the gallery on Thursday, March 21, 6 – 8 pm. The artist will be present. The exhibition in Ghent will open to the public Friday, March 22 at 9:00 am.
An early Renaissance masterpiece, The Ghent Altarpiece is inarguably one of history's most influential artworks. It is also the most stolen. Since its completion in 1432, it has been the target of 13 different crimes; it has been smuggled, censored, ransomed and attacked by iconoclasts. The altarpiece, which is currently undergoing extensive conservation and restoration has, since World-War II, been reconstructed and is on view with the exception of one crucial missing element. The lower left panel, known as The Just Judges, is currently represented by a high-resolution photographic reproduction. For his exhibition, Martin will cover this panel with a mirror, at once inducting the observer as an active participant, while simultaneously implicating the viewer as one of the "just judges."
This type of gesture is typical in Martin's lyrical and conceptual practice which engages, amongst many ideas, that of the readymade. Through subtle acts of appropriation and intervention, Martin radically shifts the meaning of an object. He once stated, "I see every piece as an invitation for the viewer to reflect: trying to activate one's individual thoughts about one's own life, without having any intention to force one's thoughts to go in a certain direction." Throughout the exhibitions there will be a series of objects at once familiar, and uncanny. The duality of mirroring—literally and conceptually—is at the crux of this exhibition: each work on view in Ghent will have its "double" on view at the gallery in New York. Conflating the sacred space of the Cathedral in Ghent with the secular space of the New York Gallery, Martin creates a compelling and subversive group of works infused with humor and wit that continue his ongoing investigation into major questions of human experience and spiritual belief.
Kris Martin, born in 1972, lives and works in Mullem, Belgium. Martin has been the subject of solo exhibitions at international museums including the Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany; the Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland; Kestnergesellschaft Hanover, Germany; the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany; the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria; the Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany; the Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, California; the Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, Colorado; the Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium; and MoMA P.S.1, New York amongst others. His work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions including the Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany; the Louvre, Paris, France; the Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom; the Centre Pompidou, Paris France; the 4th Berlin Biennale, Berlin, Germany; the Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany; the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany; and The Jewish Museum, New York. His work is included in prominent public and private collections such as the Burger Collection, Hong Kong; The David Roberts Art Foundation, London, United Kingdom; K21, Dusseldorf, Germany; the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; the Olbricht Collection, Berlin, Germany; Sammlung Boros, Berlin and Sammlung Philara, Düsseldorf, Germany; the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Ghent, Belgium; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota; The Warehouse, Dallas, Texas; and the Zabludowicz Collection, London, United Kingdom.

Opening Reception: Thursday, March 21, 6-8pm

mpefm USA art press release