Often Better Thought About (2006- )
A Bar of Distinctions (coming soon)
Instances of Transcendent Bliss (2006- )
Temp Work (2005-06)
Lucky Tackle (2002-05)
Good For Nothin' Tube Squeezer (1999-2000)

 

Transmundane Diversions
23 September - 20 October, 2006

The Office - An Art Space
5122 Bolsa Avenue Suite 110
Huntington Beach, California




The Office is pleased to announce: Transmundane Diversions, an installation of new work by Adam Rompel. For this exhibition, three distinct bodies of work are presented that find commonality in emphasizing the abstracted moment. Adam Rompel was born and raised in Los Angeles. He received his BA in Art Practice with a focus on New Genres & Installation from the University of California, Berkeley in 1998. Since school, Rompel had exhibited regularly until he decided "to open a gallery that I would like to show in" (Lucky Tackle, 2002 - 2005). Most recently, he participated in New Langton Art's Five Habitats: Squatting at Langton. Currently, he splits his time between Oakland and San Francisco.

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Five Habitats: Squatting at Langton
18 - 22 July, 2006

New Langton Arts
1246 Folsom Street
San Francisco, California

Five Habitats: Squatting at Langton is a laboratory-style, experiential exhibition modeled after Jock Reynolds' 1978 show Five Habitats for Five Members. In 2006, Langton asked artist curators John Baldessari, Keith Boadwee, Matthew Higgs, Joseph del Pesco, and Anne Walsh to each invite five artists for one-week intervals to occupy and activate the gallery space. Architect Kyu Che designed the five habitats in the gallery to be transformed by each of the artists into open studios, exhibition spaces, lounges, working stations, discussion forums, screening venues, performance settings, and more.

Adam Rompel presents Temp Work, a new body of work born out of the realization that the office job he took to fund his next project became an unintentional all-consuming career. This moment of recognition offered the artist a solution to his job-bound artist's dilemma. He decided to surreptitiously make works on the job. Rompel reconstructs Minimal and Land Art forms of the 60s and 70s, produced with new and discarded materials from the office supply and break rooms. "The job, which was an obstacle for art production, has become the ephemeral vehicle for creating work that is equally temporary and disposable,” explains the artist.

For the New Langton show, Rompel has invited the NLA staff and the architect back into the "squatted" space. During gallery hours, the space will be divided up into individual workstations for the staff, architect & artist. Each day, a new piece will be created and will replace the previous day's efforts.

"Andre" (Left) & "Christo & Jeanne-Claude," from the series Temp Work, 2006.

 

From the SF Weekly.com:

In Its Natural Setting
By Hiya Swanhuyser

What would you do if you could do anything you wanted in an art gallery for a week? "Five Habitats" uses architect Kyu Che's specially designed enclosures to find out what more than 20 creative types do, as each person or team "squats" a spot for seven days. Last week featured a listening lounge dedicated to Devendra Banhart and the Hairy Fairy Band, a ?zine display, and some of the personal belongings of Kathy Acker. This week's installations (the opening reception is on Tuesday, July 18) are curated by Keith Boadwee and include Katrina Lamb's odd songs (a new one every day at 12:30 p.m.) and an elaborate diorama by Case Simmons and Calvin Trezise. But the standout looks to be Adam Rompel's recreations of classic 1970s Land Art, like Christo's Running Fence, which he's made from office supplies. His temp job, Rompel says, "... which was an obstacle for art production, has become the ephemeral vehicle for creating work that is equally temporary and disposable." Future highlights are a Bugs Bunny?inspired video by Sergio de la Torre, the death scenes of Dawn Kasper, and a week curated by John Baldessari.

Opening receptions start at 7 p.m. and continue Tuesdays through Aug. 8 (the final exhibition continues through Aug. 12) Starting July 18, Tuesdays. Continues through Aug. 8. New Langton Arts, 1246 Folsom (at Eighth St.), San Francisco, 415-626-5416, http://www.newlangtonarts.org.