1 Formage de Tête (Maître Faux) , 2016 C-print (framed) 65 3/8 × 52 1/8 × 2 1/8 in A photograph of a chef’s body greets visitors upon entering the museum. Formage de Tête literally means “molding of a head,” and is a pun on fromage de tête , a French recipe equivalent to head cheese in which the flesh of a calf, or pig, is set in aspic. Baghramian proposes a kinship between the creative acts of cooking and sculpting. Belonging to a larger photographic series under the same title, Formage de Tête (Maître Faux) encapsulates much of the conceptual acuity, sly humor, and formal inventiveness of Baghramian’s practice. This culinary allegory finds companionship in Gorge (triple bend) (2017), installed a few steps away.
4a Maintainers D , 2018
The genealogy of Jupon Réassemblé begins with the sculpture Jupon de Corps , the titular work of this exhibition produced by Baghramian two years
Casted aluminum, painted aluminum, cork, styrofoam, pigmented paraffin wax 57 1/8 × 78 3/4 × 110 1/4 in
earlier. As its title suggests, the sculpture’s bent metal rods are
reassembled, acknowledging a history of being pulled apart and joined back together. Loosely reminiscent of the curved understructure of crinolines, Jupon Réassemblé here stretches through the gallery wall, a spidery body commanding the architecture of this room. 7a Chin Up (First Fitting A), 2016 2 parts, waxed wood, polished and
4b Maintainers B , 2018
Casted aluminum, painted aluminum, cork, styrofoam, pigmented paraffin wax 58 1/4 × 100 3/8 × 130 in Maintainers B and D belong to a larger body of work that explores the process of creating a sculpture. Each piece is constructed of three interdependent elements commonly used in casting— aluminum, colored wax forms, and painted lacquer braces with cork mounts. The sculpture literally comes in pieces, bound by an active and reciprocal relationship. They balance and hold each other up. This, however, is a fragile kinship as the aluminum slowly wears on the deteriorating wax. 5a Breath Holding Spell , 2018 Cast and powder coated aluminum 40 1/8 × 27 1/2 × 33 1/2 in 5b Breathing Spell , 2017 Cast and powder coated aluminum 16 1⁄2 × 17 × 13 in 5c Breath Holding Spell , 2018 Cast and powder coated aluminum 40 1/8 × 27 1/2 × 33 1/2 in 5d Breath Holding Spell , 2018 Cast and powder coated aluminum 40 1/8 × 27 1/2 × 33 1/2 in Located in different rooms of the exhibition, directly attached to the gallery walls close to the ground, the assertive, figurative volumes of these works introduce a spatial punctuation amongst the other artworks, while their discrete white coating subtly folds them into white gallery space. Their ambiguous function suggests they might be pure décor. But as their title indicates, Baghramian also considers these forms oxygen tanks, emphasizing the liveness of museums and exhibitions as beings in need of breath.
lacquered aluminum 48 × 33 1/2 × 31 1/2 in 130 x 43 1/4 x 39 3/8 in
7b Chin Up (First Fitting C), 2016 2 parts; Waxed wood, polished and
2 Gorge (triple bend), 2017
lacquered aluminum 63 × 177 1/8 × 31 1/2 in 109 3/8 × 48 × 34 1/4 in
polished and sanded aluminum, glass, epoxy resin, polyurethane foam, fabric, silicon 50 3/8 × 46 1⁄8 × 15 in In her titles, Baghramian deploys words to complement the forms of her sculptures. In the case of this work, a gorge is a narrow valley between mountains, which seems particularly fitting in the bucolic context of Aspen. As a verb, it points to the action of eating with greed. Gorge, colloquially, also stands for “gorgeous”– a word for exceptional beauty. Baghramian’s work has been described in terms of ambivalent abstraction, a term that seems appropriate as we interrogate what kind of landscape was framed here. 3 B 75, BH, Mod. NB, Ref. CO, MM , 2012 Stainless steel, concrete, plaster, cotton thread, rubber 65 × 19 1/4 × 4 3/4 in This anthropomorphic sculpture depicts a set of oversized colored lingerie on two large concrete hangers. Its visual lexicon is explicitly grounded in the sphere of the human body. It nods to Claes Oldenburg’s Ghost Wardrobe (for M. M.) (1967)–a sculpture that paid homage to Marilyn Monroe. Dialoguing with this art historical context, Baghramian’s fragile rubber constructions may suggest the actress’s bras, while also pointing to a human figure that is absent yet implied in the mechanics of seduction and government of bodily forms.
Both an encouragement and an exercise, the title of this work indicates a metaphorical, physical ascent and improvement. Baghramian’s Chin Up (First Fitting) series embraces the possibility of representation by way of absence. Frames without bodies, they trace the outline of the bulbous shapes seen in other artworks of the Chin Up series. As if a layer of skin has been lifted, we admire the beauty of the support structures underneath.
8 Treat (Marrowbone) , 2016 2 parts, wax Left: 292 7/8 × 45 1/4 × 19 5/8 in Right: 16 1/2 × 43 1.4 × 24 in
Baghramian’s Treat (Marrowbone) is a floor-based sculpture reminiscent of primordial forms and natural materials. The artwork deploys language both literally and ambiguously: by referring to a large bone cut in half with its marrow exposed as a “treat,” it conjures a canine desire, perhaps playfully pointing to the artist’s own incessant appetite for bodily architectures.
9 Headgear , 2016
Polished stainless steel, polished aluminum, fabric, silicone, rubber, polyurethane foam, polycarbonate approx. 275 5/8 × 196 7/8 × 59 in
6 Jupon Réassemblé , 2016 Epoxy resin, steel, wax 39 3/8 × 363 × 187 3/4 in
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