When I asked photographer HANNA LIDEN about the inspiration behind her new show, the answer was blunt: "It's obviously New York City deli." The photographs look like what might happen if a bodega trash bin magically sprouted a garden: tulips emerge from Gatorade bottles, elegant white orchids from Budweiser cans, and Kool-Aid-colored daisies from discarded coffee cups. According to Liden, the only thing that's not from a deli are a pair of black boots. "Those are from Barneys," she noted.
Liden isn't the first artist to draw inspiration from the bodega: last year, Aurel Schmidt hosted her exhibit Fruits IN A FORMER BODEGA on the LES, and before that, Alex da Corte and Borna Sammak recreated the Philadelphia deli experience with As is Wet Hoagie. Liden's exhibit is both a departure from and a prime example of the bodega-art genre: its juxtapositions of the ugly and beautiful are tongue-in-cheek, sure, but ultimately sincere. The title of the show, I Hope These Ruin a Perfectly Bad Day, isn't as sarcastic as it might sound, Liden explained: "It's a double negative, so it's actually a positive thing. It's like a greeting card in a flower delivery."
The series is certainly an aesthetic departure for Liden, who is mostly known for her stark, moody photographs of naked young Swedes, and more recently for photographs of pentagrams and Pagan rituals that reference the occult. Recently, sculpture has played an essential role in the photographer's work: handmade and found objects are united in carefully composed tableaus that meld street and studio. As Liden revealed last night, though the pieces on display were put together in two weeks and shot in only two days, she had been planning them for a lifetime: "How long it takes to make a work isn't important. It takes a fifteenth of a second to take a photograph, but you can't just take a photograph. You've thought about it for a long time."
Through June 14, 2014
Maccarone
98 Morton Street
New York, NY 10014
MAP![]()
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Can Development 2014
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Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate 2014
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Let It Go 2014
Liden isn't the first artist to draw inspiration from the bodega: last year, Aurel Schmidt hosted her exhibit Fruits IN A FORMER BODEGA on the LES, and before that, Alex da Corte and Borna Sammak recreated the Philadelphia deli experience with As is Wet Hoagie. Liden's exhibit is both a departure from and a prime example of the bodega-art genre: its juxtapositions of the ugly and beautiful are tongue-in-cheek, sure, but ultimately sincere. The title of the show, I Hope These Ruin a Perfectly Bad Day, isn't as sarcastic as it might sound, Liden explained: "It's a double negative, so it's actually a positive thing. It's like a greeting card in a flower delivery."
The series is certainly an aesthetic departure for Liden, who is mostly known for her stark, moody photographs of naked young Swedes, and more recently for photographs of pentagrams and Pagan rituals that reference the occult. Recently, sculpture has played an essential role in the photographer's work: handmade and found objects are united in carefully composed tableaus that meld street and studio. As Liden revealed last night, though the pieces on display were put together in two weeks and shot in only two days, she had been planning them for a lifetime: "How long it takes to make a work isn't important. It takes a fifteenth of a second to take a photograph, but you can't just take a photograph. You've thought about it for a long time."
Through June 14, 2014
Maccarone
98 Morton Street
New York, NY 10014
MAP
It's a Pleasure to Serve You 2014. Photos courtesy of Maccarone gallery
My Condolences 2014
Can Development 2014
Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate 2014
Let It Go 2014