CIGE 2016
September 2016
Beijing, China
Erik Parker
Tony Oursler
Khora Contemporary presented inaugural Virtual Reality artworks by Tony Oursler and Erik Parker at CIGE Art Fair, Beijing in 2016, marking the introduction of VR art to the wide audience in Asia.
Erik Parker is known for his colourful palette and twisted motifs, that draw inspiration from a variety of elements; from American subculture, comic books and hip hop to a heavy art-historical tradition of
among others Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon and Roy Lichtenstein. His acrylic paintings consist of chaos and fragmentation perfectly balanced in a jumble of colour.
‘Switchstance Bay’ unfolds Parker’s tropical universe from 2014; Foreign Resistance, previously only seen on a two-dimensional surface. When entering the Virtual Reality the participants find themselves at first sight in a lush surrounding with popping and unnatural colours – an artificial paradise created by Parker’s imagination.
The work by Tony Oursler is an exploration of a person’s mind and story. The viewer is invited to follow George Adamski, a ‘contactee’, claiming himself to be the first person ever to have seen and talked to aliens and even visited other planets.
Tony Oursler has always been investigating and using contemporary technology both in his art and as a source of inspiration. The Virtual Reality artwork therefore lies as a natural extension to his pratice. ‘space men r My friended’, arises from the path Oursler took with Imponderable and the Imponderable Archive shown at MoMA and Hessel Museum of Art at Bard College, NY and explores the interlinking characters involved with the origins of Unidentified Flying Object photography.