16 October-15 November 2014
Alfred Steiner: “Likelihood of Confusion”
Alfred Steiner’s works in “Likelihood of Confusion” are collage paintings. The show features twelve works of watercolour on paper, two oil on medium-density fibreboard, and a new piece from Steiner’s “Anti-Paparazzi” series.
For “Likelihood of Confusion”, Steiner reflects on the pervasive nature of media and advertising. Extending his project of reconstructing pre-existing graphic forms from carefully rendered naturalistic images, Steiner tackles trademarks, service marks, logos, and other indicia of origin. To do this, Steiner considers the idiosyncratic contours comprising these marks and, using the Freudian technique of free association, replaces each contour with a similarly shaped image. The show’s title, “Likelihood of Confusion”, takes its name from the legal standard for determining trademark infringement.
This technique, while inherently hit-or-miss, nevertheless results in juxtapositions of images that suggest synchronicities among themselves but also in relation to the set of ideas associated with the underlying trademark. After transforming commercial logos and amassing various objects to comprise the underlying image, the viewer is challenged to decipher the original logo as well as find commonality between the objects and the underlying image.
A Walther PPK pistol, a Princeton watercolour brush, a comb, a Christian Louboutin high heel, the skeleton of a human foot, an eggplant, a linoleum knife, a Bushmaster assault rifle, a Swiss Army knife with extended bottle opener, a barking seal, and a wishbone: these components are the reimagining of the Mobil Pegasus logo. Steiner exclusively sources imagery from the Internet, which he finds using image search tools, like Google Images. The artist claims he does this to achieve a semblance of authenticity with what has become the dominant source of imagery of popular culture. But because Steiner is a licensed lawyer with a background in intellectual property, it is probable that this practice also engages the spectre of copyright infringement and the associated issue of fair use.
Born in 1973 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Alfred Steiner currently lives and works in New York City. The artist graduated from Miami University with degrees in mathematics and philosophy, and then went on to
receive a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Besides New York, Steiner has shown in his work in solo and group shows in Los Angeles and Copenhagen. His work is included in the West Collection and the curated registries of the Drawing Center and White Columns.
(text adapted the gallery’s press materials)
INFORMATION
Joshua Liner Gallery
540 West 28th Street
New York, New York 10001 USA
(212) 244-7415
Hours:
Tuesday-Saturday, 11AM-6PM
Image:
Pegasus
by Alfred Steiner
43.5″x63.5″
watercolour on paper
2014
Courtesy of Joshua Liner Gallery, New York