Josiah McElheny: Cosmic Love
@ Corbett vs. Dempsey
1120 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL 60622
Opening Friday, June 1st, from 6PM - 8PM
On view through Saturday, August 4th
It is with pleasure that Corbett vs. Dempsey announces Cosmic Love, an exhibition of new work by Josiah McElheny. This is the artist’s second show at CvsD.
What is a cosmos?
A world in which things relate to one another however simply or through whatever complexity. An anchoring system of thought. A Weltanschauung or guiding philosophy. A cluster of particles circulating around a point, like planets circumnavigating the sun or water heading down a drain. A cosmos is a universe. Or better, in Sun Ra’s formulation, a cosmos is an omniverse. Not singular, but all-inclusive.
What is Cosmic Love?
A world in which all things relate through mutual respect and transparency. An anchoring system of rigorous inquiry. A guiding philosophy of inclusiveness and curiosity. A cluster of friendly disagreements leading to a betterment through dispute and debate. An omniverse of funk on the wheel and grit on the stone.
What is “Cosmic Love”?
A recording made by Joe McPhee in 1970, with McPhee playing both the tenor saxophone and the Space Organ. Music released for the first time on Sound on Sound, a CD issued by CvsD in 2010, then issued as a stand-alone seven-inch single.
What is Cosmic Love?
An exhibition of new works by Josiah McElheny, a diverse array of pieces that include brilliant and joyous Cosmic Sun Paintings, inspired by Sonia Delaunay; Cosmic Galaxy Paintings, black and blue with impossible inset galactic glass; the Cosmic Blue Trumpet, designed to be played by Joe McPhee; a Cosmic Love Blue Record, which can only been seen, not described; and bottles of the Cosmic Elixir, a handblown blue glass bottle filled with music that has been distilled into liquid form, a magical and elusive potion known to free one from many afflictions and to set the particles of the brain into ultra-high-speed motion.
McElheny has been working on this exhibition in his secret laboratory in Brooklyn for the last year. He will come out of hiding for a special appearance at the opening, which will be festive and may contain unannounced surprises. To see what he has been concocting, and perhaps to taste a small preview of McElheny, Corbett, and Dempsey’s upcoming installation at the Carnegie International in October, don’t miss this mysterious view of our new cosmos of love – the omniversal amorous.
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Tags: Chicago, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Cosmic Love, Josiah McElheny, West Town
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