Press Release

The Art Of Chess
April 13 - May 15 2006

Gary Tatintsian Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition featuring ten chess set designed by some of the world’s leading contemporary artists in a celebration of the game of chess and it’s continued relevance to the creative arts.

The exact origin of chess is unclear but is believed to have originated in the 7th century. No other game in history has been so widely reflected in art and literature. Due to its conceptual depth and deep roots in civilization, chess remains an intriguing and complex subject for the Artist. The infinite incantations of chess sets throughout history, which have closely followed artistic movements, is a testament to this. The Art of Chess exhibition demonstrates that the game has lost none of its inspirational power in the 21st century and that it continues to be an optimal means for artistic expression.

Damien Hirst’s Mental Escapology set comprises glass and silver casts of medicine bottles with etched silver and glass labels.  The glass and mirrored board displays the biohazard symbol.  The set is accompanied by its own glass medicine chest and two custom-made white leather dentist chairs.

 The set designed by Jake and Dinos Chapman has hand-painted black and white bronze figures and a wood marquetry board inlaid with black and white double-headed skulls and crossbones.  The pieces are post-apocalyptic adolescent figures, one side white with Arian haircuts, the opposing side black with Afro hair. The hair is cut by leading hairdresser Eugene Souleiman and the set is packaged in its own handcrafted ebony and rose wood games box.

The Los Angeles artist Paul McCarthy is a keen chess player. His Kitchen Chess set is made from random objects found in his own kitchen such as a miniature rubber duck and a ketchup bottle.  The board has been made from the artist’s kitchen floor that was ripped up during the project as a tribute to Duchamp’s chessboard design of 1937. Each set is packaged in variety of different kitchen furniture taken from the artist’s own kitchen including cabinets and a customized Fridge Freezer.

 Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s porcelain Pumpkin Chess set and board is decorated with her signature spot motif.  Made by the German porcelain factory Villeroy & Boch, the white side has red dots while the opposing side bears black dots on a yellow ground.  The porcelain board is painted with the same color combination.  The set is presented in a white and red leather display case.

The last of the original sets is the creation of Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan who is known for his mischievous sense of humor.  Crafted in porcelain by Bertozzi and Casoni and titled Good versus Evil, each figurine depicts a different character with the black King appearing in the guise of Hitler opposed on the white side by Martin Luther King.  Other notable figures such as Donatella Versace, Rasputin, General Custer, Superman, Mother Teresa and Sitting Bull appear as Pawns.

 In addition to five sets commissioned by RS&A Ltd in 2001 a further five designs have been completed in association with the Luhring Augustine Gallery throughout 2005.
British artist Rachel Whiteread has pursued her love of dollhouses to create a Modern Chess Set made up entirely of dollhouse furniture. Packaged in a custom-made games box with retro graphics and instruction manual, each piece was made to be a meticulous copy of the artist’s own dollhouse collection. The board also compliments the overall design of the set by taking the form of linoleum and carpet squares.

Brazilian artist Tunga’s bronze set has been inspired by the artist1s own mouth. There are 32 teeth in the head and 32 chess pieces on a board. By transforming incisors, canines and molars into pawns, bishops and rooks respectively he has created an ingenious take on the game.

 Matthew Ronay has also introduced a specific theme to his set that of an alternative picnic basket with an added twist. Cast in bronze and with hand painted pieces ranging from cup cakes as queens to slices of pizza as pawns, all 32 pieces are to be played on a gingham chessboard designed by the artist.

Barbara Kruger’s set takes a less figurative approach. An abstract design based loosely on the Bauhaus chess set created by Josef Hartwig in 1924, this set is an audio chess set where each piece is a mini speaker that when moved asks either a question or supplies an answer. With hundreds of different recordings made by the artist, each set has the capacity to construct an entire conversation as well as play a game of chess.

 The final exhibit is by Tom Friedman and represents a mini retrospective of the artist’s best known works including a rook made out of a Crest toothpaste packaging, a miniature portrait of the artist carved out of Styrofoam and a plastic cup full to the brim of gravel entirely fashioned out of Play-Doh. The board itself takes the form of a wooden table and is accompanied by two severed tree trunks as seats.

 This exhibition  is aimed to explore and reprise one of the legendary events in the history of twentieth-century art: the 1944–45 exhibition The Imagery of Chess, organized by Surrealist masters Marcel Duchamp and Max Ernst for the Julien Levy Gallery, in New York.  The exhibition brings together chess sets by some of the most influential artists of the 20th century and will orchestrate a program of chess related events.

An exhibition will be opened from  April 13 till May 15.