Ethan Cook / Mysticism and Logic
November 1 – 31 May, 2019
San Sebastiano
Via Piossasco 29/b
10152 Torino Italy
Noire Gallery is delighted to announce a collaboration with the artist Ethan Cook with the
site-specific project Mysticism and Logic which will be presented at the Chapel of San Sebastiano,
a location that symbolises the artistic tradition of Noire Gallery.
site-specific project Mysticism and Logic which will be presented at the Chapel of San Sebastiano,
a location that symbolises the artistic tradition of Noire Gallery.
The space, frescoed by Sol LeWitt’s wall drawings, hosts site-specific projects by
international artists who are invited to deal with this intimate and memory-rich venue.
international artists who are invited to deal with this intimate and memory-rich venue.
Mysticism and Logic evokes the famous Bertrand Russell essay, in which he reflects on the synthesis
of opposites in the life of man. This is a concept which is also dear to the two artists who will
be present in the chapel. Sol LeWitt, in one of his famous Sentences on Conceptual Art, wrote:
“Irrational thoughts should be followed in an absolute and logical way” and Ethan Cook, who also
reflected this idea in his work in similar terms: “I see my pieces as equations or propositions in
which both logical and emotive events”.
of opposites in the life of man. This is a concept which is also dear to the two artists who will
be present in the chapel. Sol LeWitt, in one of his famous Sentences on Conceptual Art, wrote:
“Irrational thoughts should be followed in an absolute and logical way” and Ethan Cook, who also
reflected this idea in his work in similar terms: “I see my pieces as equations or propositions in
which both logical and emotive events”.
Mystique, for both artists, therefore becomes a vehicle that can be processed by logic.
Ethan Cook is a painter who uses no paint in his studio. His works are composed of pieces of hand-
woven fabric that he makes himself with a wooden loom. He is not, however, a weaver. For Ethan,
the surface of the canvas itself becomes central to his practice. In his works, minimalist attention
to form and colour acts as a contribution to the tradition of abstract painting. Ethan’s working
process obeys a meticulous method: the composition of each piece is organised according to what
remains from the previous work. Each piece of leftover fabric is used in the subsequent work, an
exercise of balance akin to mathematical painting. For the artist, the loom is simply like a printer,
where the crafted appearance is not important.
woven fabric that he makes himself with a wooden loom. He is not, however, a weaver. For Ethan,
the surface of the canvas itself becomes central to his practice. In his works, minimalist attention
to form and colour acts as a contribution to the tradition of abstract painting. Ethan’s working
process obeys a meticulous method: the composition of each piece is organised according to what
remains from the previous work. Each piece of leftover fabric is used in the subsequent work, an
exercise of balance akin to mathematical painting. For the artist, the loom is simply like a printer,
where the crafted appearance is not important.
Cook’s woven paintings assume not only the guise of abstraction, but simulate its conviction as
well. Ethan Cook consistently invents new systems to convey his work: “I don’t want them to be
rigid and mechanical. Most of my favourite artists work conceptually as well as visually, meeting
somewhere in the middle. At the end of the day I want my work to function as paintings”.
well. Ethan Cook consistently invents new systems to convey his work: “I don’t want them to be
rigid and mechanical. Most of my favourite artists work conceptually as well as visually, meeting
somewhere in the middle. At the end of the day I want my work to function as paintings”.
Nato nel 1983 in Texas, vive e lavora a New York.
2018: Noire Gallery Chapel, IT; Anat Ebgi, CA; Patrick De Brock Gallery, BE. 2017: Bill Brady, FL;
Sunday-S Gallery, DK; 2016: Anat Ebgi, CA. 2015: T293, IT 2014: American Contemporary, NY; Bill
Brady KC, KS; T293 in-residence at Sadie Coles HQ, UK; National Museum of Capodimonte, IT; Paul
Kasmin at Middlemarch, BE; Roberts & Tilton, CA; Gallery Albert Baronian, BE; 2013: Galerie Jeanroch
Dard, FR; Rod Barton, UK; Middlemarch, BE; Ritter/Zamet, UK; The Hole, NY; Brand New Gallery, IT; Ana
Cristea Gallery, NY; V1 Gallery, DK.
Sunday-S Gallery, DK; 2016: Anat Ebgi, CA. 2015: T293, IT 2014: American Contemporary, NY; Bill
Brady KC, KS; T293 in-residence at Sadie Coles HQ, UK; National Museum of Capodimonte, IT; Paul
Kasmin at Middlemarch, BE; Roberts & Tilton, CA; Gallery Albert Baronian, BE; 2013: Galerie Jeanroch
Dard, FR; Rod Barton, UK; Middlemarch, BE; Ritter/Zamet, UK; The Hole, NY; Brand New Gallery, IT; Ana
Cristea Gallery, NY; V1 Gallery, DK.