Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to present ISHTAR, an exhibition of new site-specific work by Charles Harlan opening February 12, 2014. Drawing inspiration from Land Art of the 1970s, Harlan avails himself of the most common materials at hand - including such hardware store staples as ladders, shipping palettes, and one-ton metal pipe - to create his large industrial works. Huge in scale, Minimalist in form, and shown both indoors and out, Harlan's art has been referred to as Duchampian in its reliance upon readymade components, deceptive simplicity, and spatial humor. His stacking and layering of recognizable, utilitarian materials renders surprisingly potent forms that invite unexpected associations.
At Venus Over Manhattan, Harlan takes as his point of departure the book The Descent of the Goddess Ishtar Into the Lower World. The ancient Babylonian goddess of fertility, love, sex and war, serves as the artist's answer to Venus, the Roman goddess of love (and de facto patroness of the gallery, whose name pays tribute to the 1940s deco relief 'Venus of Manhattan' adorning the façade of 980 Madison Avenue). According to Harlan, the new work on view was inspired by a specific passage of the book:Ishtar on arriving at the gate of the land of no return
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