Matthew Marks is pleased to announce Nayland Blake: Feeder 2 and Corollary, the next exhibition in his gallery at 522 West 22nd Street.

The exhibition includes two new works: a large-scale gingerbread house and a related video. The house, in the shape of a traditional holiday treat, is made from real gingerbread on a steel armature and is here enlarged to 7 × 10 × 7 feet. In the 1 hour video, Gorge, the artist, who is bi-racial, is hand-fed various foods by an African American man for its duration. The marked difference in the skin color of each at first suggests an obvious master/slave relationship. Over the course of the video, it becomes less clear who is being served and which of the figures depicted is in control of the situation. In both works Blake explores themes from the fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel, and the image of the house refers, as in earlier works, to the story of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Racial and sexual identity continue to be subjects for Blake. In addition, the meaning of nourishment, as it relates to the individual in contemporary culture, is examined in the new work.

Born in 1960, Nayland Blake lives and works in New York City. He has exhibited his work internationally since 1985. Most recently, he presented his performance work, Hare Follies, in the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s 1997 Artists in Action series.

Nayland Blake: Feeder 2 and Corollary will remain on view through November 28th at 522 West 22nd Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues). Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

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