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Tactics: Early Video Works by Dennis Oppenheim, 1970-1974

Dennis Oppenheim




April 01-June 01, 2006
Slought Foundation
Reception on Saturday, April 01, 2006
Exhibition Openings Series

Dennis Oppenheim,

Slought Foundation, a non-profit organization rethinking contemporary art, presents “Tactics: Early Video Works by Dennis Oppenheim, 1970-1974,” from April 1-June 1, 2006. The artist and curator Osvaldo Romberg will be present for the public reception on Saturday, April 1st, 2006 from 6:30-8:30pm.

Dennis Oppenheim has received international attention for a body of conceptual artwork that includes performance, sculpture, and photographs. In the early 1970s, Oppenheim was in the vangard of artists using film and video as a means to investigate themes relating to Body Art, Conceptual Art, and performance. In a series of works produced between 1970 and 1974, Oppenheim used his own body as a site to challenge the self: he explored the boundaries of personal risk, transformation, and communication through ritualistic performance actions and interactions. Slought Foundation is pleased to present a selection of rarely-seen and recently re-mastered historical works in video format by Oppenheim from the early 1970s.

"Among the list of 'un-American' artists who have worked outside the boundaries of so-called 'signature style,' we must include Dennis Oppenheim. Oppenheim is an artist who from the very beginning has created for himself complete freedom of procedure, as evidenced from his early earthworks to the installations of the 1960s and 1970s. His work has always related to nature, and to a very special sense of the human character. Oppenheim’s influence and his presence as a role model also extend to the present moment. His work is a sort of precursor to the many sarcastic installations making the gallery rounds today all over the world. Unfortunately these new installations are devoid of the humanistic values and moral critiques that are embodied in his works." -- Osvaldo Romberg, Curator

Please note that "Wave Forms: Oppenheim Proposal for 3401 Chestnut St., Philadelphia" has been organized in conjunction with this retrospective exhibition, and is concurrently on display in the main vault (here for more information).

Read the full curatorial essay


Dennis Oppenheim was born in 1938 in Electric City, Washington. He received his B.F.A. from the School of Arts and Crafts, and an M.F.A. from Stanford University. He has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Oppenheim has exhibited his works internationally in galleries and museums including the Tate Gallery, London; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Whitney Museum of American Art and The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Galerie Pro Arte, Germany; and the Joseph Helman Gallery, New York. He has been commissioned by many venues including Ballerup Kommune, Copenhagen; Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and Olympic Park, South Korea. Oppenheim lives in New York.

The exhibition will include the following video works:

Program One: Aspen Projects (1970, 30 min, b&w and color, silent)

Material Interchange 1970, 2:44 min, b&w, silent
Identity Transfer 1970, 1 min, b&w, silent
Rocked Hand 1970, 3:34 min, color, silent
Compression - Fern #1 1970, 5:46 min, color, silent
Pressure Piece #1 1970, 1:40 min, color, silent
Glassed Hand 1970, 2:56 min, color, silent
Compression - Poison Oak 1970, 2:46 min, color, silent
Compression - Fern #2 1970, 5:22 min, color, silent
Leafed Hand 1970, 3:44 min, color, silent


Program Two (1970, 14:56 min, b&w and color, silent)

Extended Armour 1970, 2:08 min, b&w, silent
Gingerbread Man 1970, 1:42 min, b&w, silent
Nail Sharpening 1970, 2:57 min, b&w, silent
Toward Becoming a Devil 1970, 2:20 min, b&w, silent
Rocked Stomach 1970, 2:48 min, color, silent
Fusion: Tooth and Nail 1970, 2:58 min, color, silent


Program Three (1972-74, 24:30 min, b&w and color, sound)

Disappear 1972, 5:57 min, sound, b&w
Brush 1973, 4:56 min, color, sound
I'm Failing 1972-73, 1:48 min, color, sound
My Father's Socks 1972, 5:50 min, b&w, sound
Mittens 1974, 4:21 min, b&w, sound


Program Four (1971-72, 44:50 min, b&w, silent)

Vibration #1 1971, 13:30 min, b&w, silent
Vibration #2 1972, 11:24 min, b&w, silent
2 Stage Transfer Drawing (Advancing to a Future State) 1971, 7:42 min, b&w, silent
2 Stage Transfer Drawing (Retreating to a Past State) 1971, 12:04 min, b&w, silent


Program Five (1970-71, 37:45 min, b&w and color, silent)

Air Pressure (hand) 1971, 5:25 min, color, silent
Lead Sink for Sebastian 1970, 4:42 min, color, silent
Nail Sharpening 1970, 6:02 min, color, silent
Gingerbread Man 1970-71, 8:45 min, b&w, silent
Fusion: Tooth and Nail 1970, 12:03 min, color, silent


Program Six (1971-72, 27:18 min, b&w and color, silent)

Forming Sounds 1971, 7:14 min, b&w and color, silent
2 Stage Transfer Drawing (Advancing to Future State) 1971, 2:48 min, color, silent
2 Stage Transfer Drawing (Retreating to a Past State) 1971, 2:57 min, color, silent
A Feedback Situation 1971, 3:02 min, color, silent
3 Stage Transfer Drawing 1972, 3:07 min, color, silent
Two Stage Transfer Drawing (Returning to a Past State) 1971, 3 min, color, silent
Objectified Counterforces 1971, 2:06 min, color, silent
Shadow Project 1971, 3:04 min, color, silent

Organized by Osvaldo Romberg


MLA Style: Dennis Oppenheim. "Tactics: Early Video Works by Dennis Oppenheim, 1970-1974." Slought Foundation Online Content. [01 April 2006; Accessed 12 March 2010]. <http://slought.org/content/11314/>.






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