IVY HALDEMAN: ON HUMAN FORM

NANZUKA is pleased to present “On Human Form,” the first solo exhibition in Japan by artist Ivy Haldeman.

December 3, 2024 – January 11, 2025

Since graduating with a BFA from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 2008, Haldeman has spent over a decade cultivating a practice that centers on the production of paintings and multimedia sculptures. She has exhibited widely both in the United States and internationally, holding solo exhibitions at Francois Ghebaly in Los Angeles (2024, 2020), Tara Downs in New York (2021, 2018), and Yuz Museum (2022) and Capsule Shanghai (2019) in China. She has also participated in group exhibitions at the Petzel Gallery and Hauser & Wirth in New York.

Familiar American consumerist objects such as bananas, hot dogs, suits, and high heels appear repeatedly in Haldeman’s work in anthropomorphic form. Haldeman selects these objects based on two sociological and psychological concerns: global consumerism centered in the United States, and the self-image of contemporary people. Her works are depicted in a graphic style characterized by delicate lines, and while the overall tone is bright and simple, the translucent colors reminiscent of watercolors or ink, paired with her brushwork, serve to create a somewhat surreal atmosphere.

This exhibition introduces a selection of 15 new works by Haldeman which will be presented for the first time. The subject of food and ready-to-wear clothing has historically been featured in American Pop Art, including the works of artists such as Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg. Haldeman, however, does not portray these subjects as deliberate plagiarisms of images from popular culture, but instead depicts them in an extremely pure and uncontrived manner, distancing them from the commotion of contemporary urban life. At the same time, a certain “softness” is emphasized in her motifs. For example, objects that are often employed as sexual metaphors such as bananas and hot dogs, appear to be made of fluffy, cushion-like materials and bear graceful curves that evoke the female figure, subverting prescribed gender associations. These objects, which convey a sense of carnality, while sensual in nature, are devoid of the ostentation of 1960s Pop Art.

“In “On Human Form,” none of my subjects are human in themselves, but they aspire to be. They are searching for human shapes, whether in the thin cylinder of a cigarette rolling across the floor, or the golden curl of a banana peel, reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe’s classic bob. They want to be held like children, but also blown in the wind like a starlet. They try sitting with erect spines, but they can't escape the soft curves of seduction.” — Ivy Haldeman