Allan McCollum "Selected Plaster Surrogates, Selected Perpetual Photo's & Selected Perfect Vehicles"

Selected Plaster Surrogates: December 16 through 25 Selected Perpetual Photo's: December 30 through January 8 Selected Perfect Vehicles: January 14 through 29 ‘During the months of December and January Allan McCollum will show three different types of work in three consecutive installations at De Appel. The exhibitions, organised together with Portikus in Frankfurt, and for which a special catalogue is made in English and German [ Allan McCollum, De Appel, Amsterdam & Portikus, Frankfurt 1989. Text: Andrea Fraser, Ulrich Wilmes. German & English. Bio- and bibliography included. 68 Pages: 16 f.c., 33 b.w., 24.5 x 21 cm. Softcover. ISBN 3 88375 100 6. SOLD OUT], will carry the following titles: Selected Plaster Surrogates, Selected Perpetual Photo's and Selected Perfect Vehicles. Allan McCollum’s work haunts the viewer. A multitude of works hung on a wall or placed in a room, fill the void to the extent of oppression. The beholder does not encounter a few preciously hung 'gems' with a carefully constructed identity: he finds himself amidst rows of objects that one would expect to find in a warehouse rather than in a museum or gallery. In search for meaning he finds repetition of outer form; looking for a personal handwriting he sees serial production. Yet the works in their totality are extremely personal and cannot be mistaken for anyone else's work. Is it the serial production that guarantees McCollum’s identity? Would the presentation of one vase, one photograph undermine his argument? It is not likely. Allan McCollum has created several bodies of work that function both as objects, as work of art and as a critique of the art system. A Perpetual Photo not only refers to the painting in the movie it was derived from, but turns this painting in retrospect into a 'McCollum'. A vase, solid instead of hollow, refers to the antique ‘objet d'art’, yet is a contemporary artwork: sign and reference are both contained in this Perfect Vehicle but do not coincide. As it reflects on mechanisms that underlie structures of the artworld, Foundation De Appel considers Allan McCollum's work of great interest and is pleased to be able to show it in a series of precise installments.’ (‘Allan McCollum’, Newsletter De Appel, 3 (1988) 5.)