Amulet or He calls it chaos @ 500 Capp St

Amulet or He calls it chaos
Mathis Altmann, Tony Cokes, Moyra Davey, Michel Houellebecq, Hans Haacke, Katharina Grosse, Rashid Johnson, Sherrie Levine, Mark McCloud, Cady Noland, Will Rogan, Jorge Satorre, Cindy Sherman, Gabriel Sierra, Oscar Tuazon, and Andra Ursuţa.

March 9 - June 1, 2019
@
500 Capp St
San Francisco, CA

[Editor’s note: Journal stands by the artists, curators, interpreters etc. of 500 Capp St while firmly denouncing efforts to evict the project’s neighbor]

I think my worst demon is myself....I don’t like to do the same thing over and over again. I like to search out the new frontier and go past the place where I really understand what I’m doing. That’s excitement, to get out in space where some wires might get crossed and there’s no way back to earth.

-David Ireland

...And that song is our amulet. -Roberto Bolaño

The dates become stacked like firewood...1975, 1991, 1992, 2014, 2016, 1985, 1983, 2015, 2003,
1990, 1987, 1980, 2012, 1971, 2018, 2019, 1999, and so on.

Amulet drifts through 500 Capp Street, providing a story about transformations taking place inside "the institution.” He calls it chaos overlaps this story, unfolding an abstract narrative, shifting viewers’ expectations whenever possible. Through the wall, up the stairs, into the explosions, your nose alive, your ears alarmed. The windows shout to the street, while condensation builds inside the cube. Back down the stairs, your reflection is caught in the green hue of her mirror, he is she, and your hands warm over his fire. In the house, installed side by side or overlapping, each work is pulled from a distinct narrative thread.

Abstract as this may seem, exhibitions allow us the opportunity to restructure narrative, to slow down time. Building monuments, or maybe moments that represent meaning—using sculpture, video, and painting as a way to tell stories. This exhibition reflects courage and mirrors, desire and pleasure, and it will sustain and survive, even as destruction or construction continues constantly. It is science-fiction, fantasy, and authenticity of the most hopeful sort. Amulet or He calls it chaos, chooses the illogical, philosophical, yet recognizable material world of Magical Realism, while also addressing the power and sensitivity of architecture, gender, politics, and mortality. Crossing wires, searching for new frontiers and getting lost while doing it, Amulet or He calls it chaos, is two simultaneous exhibitions, but also one.

Organized by Bob Linder and Diego Villalobos

David Ireland, Contadina, 1985. Polyurethane on drywall. Remade for the exhibition Amulet or He calls it chaos, 2019; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Katharina Grosse, Untitled, 2017. Acrylic on aluminum, 40 x 39 x 97 inches; Courtesy of the artist and Gagosian Gallery; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Mathis Altmann, Untitled, 2019. Wood, acrylic mirror, pendants, resin, airbrush. 13.5 x 17.75 x 11 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Freedman Fitzpatrick, Los Angles; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Gabriel Sierra, Trapdoor for Contadina, 2019. Wood plank, yellow stain, 72 x 20 x 1.5 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Kurimanzutto, Mexico; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Jorge Satorre, Sometimes I use images in my work that might be embarrassing to me, my family or my dealers (mice), 2019. Epoxy, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and Labor, Mexico; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Sherrie Levine, Green Mirror, 2012. Green mirror, maple frame, 21 1/8 x 17 1/8 inches. Private collection, San Francisco; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Mathis Altmann, Neuigkeiten vom roten Teppich, 2016. Mdf, acrylic glass, cloth, mouse-trap 13.5 x 11.5 x 9.25 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Freedman Fitzpatrick, Los Angles; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Rashid Johnson, Untitled Shea Butter Table, 2018. Branded walnut and shea butter, 52 x 96 x 47.75 inches. Courtesy of the artist and David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Will Rogan, Eraser, 2014. Single channel video, 6:43 minutes. Courtesy of the artist and Altman Siegel Gallery San Francisco; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

David Ireland, 500 Capp Street (interior view with logs in doorway), 1987. Wood, 80 x 33 x 15 inches. Remade for the exhibition Amulet or He calls it chaos, 2019; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Mark McCloud, Blue Jungle, Green Jungle, circa 1985. 13.75 x 13.75. Ink on blotter paper, framed. Courtesy of the artist and Mark McCloud; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Cady Noland, Enquirer Page with Eyes Cut Out, Template l, 1990. Plywood, 72 x 60 x 1/2 inches. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Gift of Cady Noland, Luring Augustine Hetzler, and American Fine Arts; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Andra Ursuţa, From my Top 5 Deaths You Didn't See Coming, 2015. Dye on velvet, 59 x 56 inches, framed. Courtesy of the artist and Ramiken Crucible, New York; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Gabriel Sierra, Untitled (síntesis para caverna), 2008. Cardboard boxes, light bulb, enamel, 13.78 x 10.43 x 3.94 inches; 10.43 x 6.5 x 3.94 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Kurimanzutto, Mexico; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Gabriel Sierra, Untitled, 2019. Courtesy of the artist and Kurimanzutto, Mexico; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Katharina Grosse, Untitled, 2017. Acrylic on aluminum, 29 x 35 x 56 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Gagosian Gallery; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Michel Houellebecq, Pelage d’hiver (Winter Coat), ink on papier, signé, framed, 31,2 x 22,6 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Air De Paris; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Cindy Sherman, Untitled (Male/Female Artist), 1980 / 2012. Two silver gelatin prints, 10 x 16 inches, framed. Courtesy of the artist and Metro Pictures, New York. Private collection, San Francisco; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Moyra Davey, Glass SP-NY, 2014. 4 C-prints, tape, postage, ink, unique, 11.8 x 17.7 inches (each print); 24 x 36 inches (overall). Courtesy of the artist; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Gabriel Sierra, La Apertura del Cube (The Opening of the Cube), 2017. Single channel video, 8:4 minutes. Courtesy of the artist and Kurimanzutto, Mexico; Photo:Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Hans Haacke, Condensation Cube, 1971. Clear acrylic, distilled water, climate in area of display, 10 x 10 x 10 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Private collection, San Francisco; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Tony Cokes, Black September (Evil.2/3), 2003. Single channel video, 2:08 minutes. Courtesy of the artist; Greene Naftali, New York and Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Jorge Satorre, Sometimes I use images in my work that might be embarrassing to me, my family or my dealers (cornice), 2019. Plaster, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and Labor, Mexico; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Jorge Satorre, Sometimes I use images in my work that might be embarrassing to me, my family or my dealers, 2019. Collage, magazines. Courtesy of the artist and Labor, Mexico; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Jorge Satorre, Sometimes I use images in my work that might be embarrassing to me, my family or my dealers, 2019. Painted wood, epoxy, pencil on paper. Courtesy of the artist and Labor, Mexico; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Jorge Satorre, Sometimes I use images in my work that might be embarrassing to me, my family or my dealers, 2019. Pencil on paper, steel, magnets. Courtesy of the artist and Labor, Mexico; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Jorge Satorre, Sometimes I use images in my work that might be embarrassing to me, my family or my dealers, 2019. Pencil on paper, steel, magnets. Courtesy of the artist and Labor, Mexico; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.

Oscar Tuazon, Chaos, 2019. Steel, refectory cement, fire. Courtesy of the artist; Photo: Preston/Kalogiros; Courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.