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The Invisible Hand of the Market
Hans Haacke
2009
vinyl, motor, mount capacitator, Cintra, kinetic hardware
dimensions variable
(courtesy of Hans Haacke and Paula Cooper Gallery) 
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The Next Recession and Where to Hide
Gardar Eide Einarsson
2016
acrylic, graphite and gesso on canvas
87 x 71 inches; 220 x 180 cm
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Empire (Inverted)
Banks Violette
2016
graphite on paper
30 x 23 inches; 76 x 58 cm.
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I Hate Business
Jessica Diamond
1989
black paint on wall
dimensions variable
edition of 3
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Golden Eggs (organized by Alissa Bennett)

Alex Bag, Bjarne Melgaard, Jessica Diamond, Barbara Kruger, Chivas Clem, Gardar Eide Einarsson, Banks Violette, Hans Haacke, Cristine Brache, and John Miller
June 23rd – August 12th 2016
83 Grand Street

Team Gallery is pleased to present Golden Eggs, a group exhibition organized by Alissa Bennett. Featuring the work of Alex Bag, Cristine Brache, Chivas Clem, Jessica Diamond, Gardar Eide Einarsson, Hans Haacke, Barbara Kruger, Bjarne Melgaard, John Miller and Banks Violette, the show will run from 23 June through 12 August, 2016. Team Gallery is located at 83 Grand Street, on the ground floor. 

The title, Golden Eggs, is taken from volume one of Marx’s Das Kapital, in which he describes the progenerative potential of capital: “Because it is value, it has acquired the occult quality of being able to add value to itself. It brings forth living offspring, or, at the least, lays golden eggs.” This exhibition applies this principle to the contemporary art market, presenting works that engage actively with the capitalist phenomenon of endowing certain objects with the power to autonomously generate revenue, rendering them self-contained units of profit production. 

Of especial significance to the metaphor of the golden eggs is their lack of inherent or utilitarian value – an aspect that finds particular resonance when applied to the buying and selling of contemporary art. The monetary value of fine art, like that of precious metals or gemstones, is not linked to any concrete benefit, but is instead dictated by transient opinions and circumstances. The arbitrary reality of the art market is explicated by its accelerated tempermentalit­y; the practices of speculative collectors – in search of their own “golden eggs,” – beget predictable patterns of frenzy, overvaluation and subsequent commercial rejection, as well as perpetually unstable financial situations for artists.

The exhibition’s participating artists share in a caustic antipathy towards contemporary capitalism, in particular its tendencies to exploit, suppress and manipulate, to commodify creativity and extinguish individualism. The dehumanizing effect of corporate advertisement is central to the show, providing the works with both subject matter and an expressive vocabulary. With an encompassing hostility directed at all levels of art market participation – from collectors and dealers to curators and the artists themselves – these pieces dismantle the oxymoronic myth of consumer choice, and the false conflation of economic patronage with personal identity. 

These artists’ overt aggression towards the market stems from the conviction that capitalism is predatory and violent in nature, vampirically preying upon the body and mind of the individual.

Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10am to 6pm and Sunday, Noon to 6pm. For further information and/or photographs, please call 212 279 9219.

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Miller-j_mannequinlover-02_129_0
Mannequin Lover
John Miller
2002
mannquin, wig and shoes 
75 x 20 x 14 inches; 190 x 51 x 35 cm
(courtesy of the Rubell Family Collection)
Nothingbut_129_0
Nothing But Violence
Cristine Brache
2016
mother of pearl, green turban, red abalone, jute
6.5 x 4 inches; 16.5 x 10 cm
Glitter_stroke_email%20(1)_129_0
Desperate to Appear Sophisticated
Chivas Clem
1996
digital print of video stills
12 x 78 inches; 30.5 x 198 cm
(courtesy of Maccarone, New York/Los Angeles) 
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Coven Services
Alex Bag
2004
videotape transferred to digital storage, sound
14:40