Eyewash@OPEN GROUND a site-specific installation w/ video, sculpture and paintings Social Club by DAVID KRAMER DATES: OCT 11th ­ NOV 17th, 2002 HOURS: SAT + SUN, 12 - 6 p.m. and by appointment OPENING: FRI, OCT 11th, 7 - 9 p.m. LOCATION: eyewash@OPEN GROUND* at 252 Grand St. (Between Roebling and Driggs Aves.) Brooklyn, NY 11211 Kramer, Yea, His studio blew up. Fine. But come on: It's not like we lost one of the Seven Wonders of the World or anything. 2002 eyewash is pleased to present a solo exhibition of the work of David Kramer. In a variety of media, Kramer attempts to capture the illusive American Dream, all the while cursing himself for being so easily duped by the glossy promises of Hollywood endings and slick advertising. Kramer mocks his own obsession with these simple and generic desires. He is fully aware of the tragic existentialist dilemma, and cannot help but have that emerge in the proverbial "back of his mind," as he works through the various medium trying to cope with his own flailing attempts at grabbing the brass ring. Sprawled across the gallery floor is a lighted jumble of light bulbs, signage and beer and liquor bottles, "BRITE IDEAS," 2002 (sic). The bulbs and signage spell out "U & UR BRITE IDEAS." On a wall, an illuminated light box "Crowning Moments," 2002, is graffitied with stories and antidotes of the utter shock and horror of a soon-to-be middle aged man trying to understand how he ever got so old with out realizing it and the rants of a man who suddenly cannot believe that he had been so easily deluded by superficial promises gleaned from television. A wood-paneled bar provides seating for a video reel which includes three videos: "Method Acting," 2002 starts with a clip from an interview w/ Kramer, done by Sandra Bernhardt, for her ill-fated "Sandra Bernhardt Experience" (Kramer was a guest during the week of dress rehearsals for the show.) and takes the viewer through the process of making a film; or more accurately, the process of speaking about a film. The film itself is incredibly weak, but the heaps of attention paid to discussing the film's virtues is really the point of the video. "Asshole," 2002 is a video that dissects the tragic destruction of Krameršs (the once and always maligned artist) studio in a gas explosion in the fall 2001, by his supporting and enabling wife. Using language from the awful events of September 11, 2001, Kramer grapples with his own self pity, and his stunned disbelief that in the wake of tragedy, he continues to run to the studio to try to fill the world with his artistic output. The final video, "Social Club" is a collaborative video by artist David Kramer and curator Larry Walczak, created specifically for the eyewash exhibition "SOCIAL CLUB" by David Kramer. The video explores the timeless relationship of the artist/curator in an often humorous fashion with Kramer playing clueless straight man to Walczak's schmoozy promoter, in the process commenting on the Brooklyn hype of a gentrified bar/club art scene. Kramer is the slacker, self-indulgent artist while Walczak plays the shameless spin doctor. The paintings in the show are oil on canvas works entitled "Absolut Adolescent," 2002; "Comedy: A Tragedy," 2002; and "For Richard Nixon," 2002. All three straddle self-deprecating humor and the dreamlike escape of oil painting on canvas. In the words of Groucho Marx: "I would never join any club that would allow me in as a member." Kramer empathizes with this brand of comedy. Wearing the costume of the self-hating Jew, Kramer always seems terribly out of fashion. David Kramer has exhibited extensively in NYC and Toronto, as well as in Europe. *eyewash, was started in June 1987 by artist/curator Larry Walczak on the 3rd Floor of a turn-of-the-century residential building in Williamsburg. Having lost that space, since January 2002 it has been a "migratory gallery," either collaborating with other galleries, as with this exhibition, or producing shows in borrowed or otherwise temporarily acquired spaces. It specializes in showcasing emerging and mid-career artists from Brooklyn. F O R F U R T H E R I N F O R M A T I O N Please contact Larry Walczak at 718 387 2714 or larryeyewash@earthlink.net