“A thing alters by what we'll accept as being there, of space inspired by openness.” –The Retired Architect

Wallspace is pleased to present The Retired Architect, a group exhibition curated by Nichole Caruso, featuring the work of Katinka Bock, Ned Colclough, N. Dash, Ben Gocker, Isabel Nolan and Julia Rommel. The title of the exhibition is borrowed from a poem by Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge, a poet who refers to her works as "collages," inasmuch as they're composed by culling a collection of texts, images and physical objects to form a map, which she eventually smooths out grammatically to create a "linguistic surface." Berssenbrugge's physical, performative and appropriation-based approach to composition serves as a curatorial lens and inspiration for this exhibition. Each of the six artists will present works aligned with the methodologies or interests inherent to the poetic process, lending a lyrical sense to both material and object by using a mix of individual abstract language and intuitive composition or gesture. Their contingent investigations and meditations are brought together here to create a poem outside of the page where material expression is imbricated with physical space.

Katinka Bock (b. 1976) lives and works in Paris, France. Recent exhibitions include: 40 Räuber, MAMCO, Geneva, CH (2013); Katinka Bock – Personne – Chiado 8, Arte Contemporanea, Lisbon, PT (2012); Spacial City: An Architecture of Idealism, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL (2010); Frischzelle_12: Katinka Bock, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, DE (2010); Here We Dance, Tate Modern, London, UK (2008); La Jeune Creation Contemporaine, Musee d’art Contemporain, Lyon, FR (2005). Bock has a forthcoming solo exhibition curated by Luis Croquer at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, WA (2014).

Ned Colclough (b. 1976) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Recent exhibitions include: New Arrangements, Portland Institute for Contmporary Art, Portland, OR (2013); Winter Arrangements, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, NY (2012); CKTV, Brooklyn City Pavilion, 9th Shanghai Biennale, curated by Cleopatra's, Shanghai, CN (2012); Sixth Sax, Halsey Mckay Gallery, East Hampton, NY (2010); Grasping for Relics, Zieher Smith, New York, NY (2011). Colclough has a forthcoming solo exhibition at Nicelle Beauchene in New York, NY (2014).

N. Dash (b. 1980) lives and works in New York and New Mexico. Recent exhibitions include: Matter and Memory, Alison Jacques Gallery, London, UK (2013); Dress Rehearsal, Galerie Andreas Huber, Vienna, AT (2013); Ghosts Before Breakfast, White Flag Projects, St. Louis, MO (2012); Abstract Everyday, Everyday Abstract, curated by Matthew Higgs, James Cohan Gallery, New York, NY (2012); Drawing a Line in the Sand, Peter Blum Gallery, New York, NY (2012); N. Dash, UNTITLED, New York, NY (2012); N. Dash/ William Anastasi, Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery, New York, NY (2011); Painting Expanded, Tanya Bonakdar, New York, NY (2011). Dash has a forthcoming solo exhibition at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, CA (2014).

Ben Gocker (b. 1979) lives in New York. Recent exhibitions include: Hot Potato, New York City, New York, NY (2012); Seven@ SEVEN, The Boiler (Pierogi), Brooklyn, NY (2012); Summer Whites, Rachel Uffner, New York, NY (2011); There really is no single poem, PPOW, New York, NY (2010). Gocker is also the author of Wiz an editioned chapbook published by The Song Cave. Gocker has a forthcoming solo exhibition at PPOW gallery in New York, NY (2014). Isabel Nolan (b. 1974) lives and works in Dublin, Ireland. Recent exhibitions include: Sculpture after Artschwager, David Nolan New York, NY (2013); Musée d’art moderne de Saint Etienne, Saint-Priest-en-Jarez, FR (2012); Unmade, Goethe Institute, Dublin, IR (2012); Mark Garry and Isabel Nolan, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, UK (2011); On a Perilous Margin, Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, IR (2009). Coalesce: Happen-stance, Smart, Amsterdam, NL (2009); Nolan has a forthcoming solo exhibition at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland (2014).

Julia Rommel (b. 1980) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Recent exhibitions include: Correspondences, TEMP Art Space, New York, NY (2013); Mother Superior, Gaudel de Stampa, Paris, FR (2013); Freak Out, Greene Naftali, New York, NY (2013); Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out, White Flag Projects, St Louis, MO (2013); Delaware, Bureau, New York, NY (2012); Addicted to Highs and Lows, curated by Rich Aldrich, Bortolami, NY (2011). Reverie, curated by Stephen Westfall, Zürcher Studio, New York, NY (2011). Rommel has a forthcoming solo exhibition at Bureau in New York, NY (2014).