Little Cakes Little Gallery is proud to open the year 2007 with Refuge Field - Dada for Grandma A site specific installation by Oliver Halsman Rosenberg in memory of Yvonne Halsman January 5th - January 28th, 2007 Artist Oliver Halsman Rosenberg spent the last nine and a half weeks of his grandmother, Yvonne Halsman's life by her side, caring for her. They had a special bond and kinship so as her health declined; he came face to face with the great mystery to which we all succumb. In his installation, Oliver uses his grandmother's exercise bicycle as a means to let viewers turn a disk of paintings through their own power. The idea was inspired both by his knowledge of Eastern rituals like the turning of a prayer wheel as well as honoring the surroundings in which he had spent those last days with her. Yvonne Halsman was the wife and assistant to the famous photographer Philippe Halsman. Their apartment on the Upper West Side had been home to the New York Dada school, with Duchamp taking residence in the same building, salons, and Salvador Dali visiting to collaborate with Halsman on shocking but playful photographs. Decades later, this is where Oliver created the paintings in this show. Channeling some of its past residents no doubt, he came up with the use of this exercise bicycle. The prayer wheel consists of twelve paintings. Each is a symbol for Oliver and Yvonne's friendship as well as standing in as their own personal zodiac. This idea of the cyclical nature of life connects with a long running theme of Oliver's, which he calls Sphereism. Each painting simulates a broken gemstone, a sacred object traveling through time and disintegrating, yet maintaining a certain power. These fragments serve as a platform to contemplate perfection from that of a Kabalistic standpoint (the perpetual potential for perfection) versus that of a Buddhist (the acceptance of what is). Oliver in his own words writes, "My work seeks to connect the dots between science and spirit. I appreciate living art where the ability to interact with it creates a layer of meaning not usually found in Western culture's honor of the static rectangle commodity. The Refuge Field - Dada for Grandma installation is about history and honoring your elders, celebrating the journey." Oliver Halsman Rosenberg is the co-founder of an alternative space in San Francisco called Triple Base, and this past summer had a solo show at the Drawing Center in New York under the name "Crust & Dirt" (a collaborative project with Clint Taniguchi). This upcoming year he will be working on community based projects in Japan and India, and has recently shown at the Deste Foundation in Greece, and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Little Cakes - 625 East 6th Street #1B, NYC NY 10009 646-342-1056 / goodies@littlecakes.org / littlecakes.org Gallery hours are Friday through Sunday, 1pm to 6pm, and also by appointment. Little Cakes Little Gallery is located on East 6th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C. Later on in January, Little Cakes will host the International Flipbook Festival at Secret Project Robot in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Stay tuned for details.