If the time period “darkly funny” had been ever to explain anybody, I’d put my vote on Nayland Blake. Their two-room gallery present at Matthew Marks contains erotic compelled milk-drinking; a bunch of get nicely playing cards (you’ll not get nicely — you had been on the placebo, the textual content inside tells you); and probably the most poisonous stuffed bunny you’ll ever meet. “You’re over-rationalizing this,” it tells you in a falsetto, fluffy ears jiggling emphatically. “In honor of the old days, you should just … let me.”
Blake has perfected this particular register throughout their work — laugh-out-loud humorous or absurd, rigorously conceptual, erotic edged with simmering rage — and but it’s someway not repetitive. This, regardless that doubling and repetition are certainly one of their most potent instruments. The manipulative stuffed bunny ex-lover of the aptly named “Negative Bunny” (1994), as an example, implies (… hopefully?) the existence of one other stuffed bunny who will hopefully not give into its “charms” — that’s you, watching.
Set up view of Nayland Blake, “One Down” (1994), plush toy with 56 free pom-poms
Stuffed-animal-as-avatar reappears within the vitrine in entrance of it: “One Down” (1994) consists of a brilliant yellow rabbit beside a pile of matching pompoms. It seems to be just like the aftermath of a violent crime; I detected (or projected) an “I’d do it again” smirk on its furry little face. Given the conduct of the bunny behind, I wasn’t certain whether or not to root for or towards — who did this animal stand in for: the avenging sufferer or one more perpetrator?
Different works additionally contemplate the methods we make ourselves up or tear one another aside. “Equipment for a Shameful Epic” (1993) incorporates duplicates of the identical Halloweenish props: Two plastic nooses, a number of faux scythes, a pair of rubber heads with matching brow wounds. They’re clearly faux, low cost toy-store wares. And but their purposeful repetition and cautious association infuse them with a way of uncanny, ritual, even agentive energy — you can overpower a singular prop, however taken collectively, you’re feeling you’re of their presence relatively than the opposite manner round.
In an identical vein, the close by “Mirror Restraint” (1988–89) consists of a BDSM collar suspended by a metallic pole between a pair of floor-level mirrors that jut out from the wall. You’ll be able to stroll proper as much as them, however their tilt ensures you’ll by no means see your self, not even your toes. Regardless of or due to that truth, I felt a bizarre sense of vicarious disgrace — as if it weren’t a trick mirror however my very own worthlessness that rendered me invisible — that looped again right into a fairly uncomfortable eroticism. It’s simply certainly one of myriad ways in which Blake’s rigorously conceptual work reroutes your expectations for each object and paintings, not merely implying however actively implicating your physique.
Set up view of Nayland Blake, “Gorge” (1998), digital video (colour, sound)
Set up view of Nayland Blake, “You were on the Placebo” (1993/2024), set of 5 greeting playing cards
Set up view of Nayland Blake, “You were on the Placebo” (1993/2024), set of 5 greeting playing cards
Nayland Blake, “Equipment for a Shameful Epic” (1993), combined media
Nayland Blake, “Mirror Restraint” (1988–89), mirror, metal, and leather-based
Nayland Blake, “Negative Bunny” (1994), VHS tape switch to digital video (colour, sound), half-hour
Set up view of Nayland Blake, “Entrance” (2025), metal, doormats, cloth, leather-based, acrylic, wooden, paint, and {hardware}, behind the gallery’s 526 West twenty second Road location in Chelsea
Set up view of Nayland Blake, “50 Minutes” (2025), leather-based, metal, aluminum, PVC, plastic, cloth, glass, mirror, microphone, sound machine, wooden, paint, and {hardware}, behind the gallery’s 526 West twenty second Road location in Chelsea
Set up view of Nayland Blake, “Charm 1” (2025), metal, glass, plastic, silicone, leather-based, cloth, wooden, paint, enamel, brush, and {hardware}, behind the gallery’s 526 West twenty second Road location in Chelsea
Nayland Blake continues at each areas of Matthew Marks gallery via October 25. Nayland Blake: Intercourse within the 90s, consisting of works by the artist, is at 522 West twenty second Road, Chelsea, Manhattan. Inside: curated by Nayland Blake, composed of works by different artists curated by Blake, is on the gallery’s 526 West twenty second Road location. Nayland Blake: Session, an set up of latest works by the artist, can be on the 526 West location.
