Press Release (pdf: 20k)
Artist Bio
Sponsorship
Location

fiberglass and epoxy resin
Sculpted in collaboration with Herb Witenstein

March 11 – 14, 2005

The presentation at The Armory Show was made possible by Derek Eller Gallery, New York

Ivan Witenstein’s sculpture Uncle John’s Band (2004) brings together Huckleberry Finn and Jim from Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Gandalf the wizard from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings to investigate the ways in which these two classic and controversial books have been variously interpreted in recent years. The three larger-than-life figures of Ivan Witenstein’s Uncle John’s Band form an unlikely trio, brought together across time and fictional genres to appear side-by-side atop a river raft. Witenstein’s frequent use of politically charged material and his cartoon-like modeling of form recall American social realism.

Uncle John’s Band--sculpted in collaboration with the artist’s father, Herb Witenstein--features characters from two seminal books of legendary popularity that have both been the subject of controversy. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published in 1885, and that same year the Concord, Massachusetts library banned it for its coarse language and alleged immorality. Over time, it has been praised as satire and an attack on racism, but it has also been criticized for inherent racism in the portrayal of Jim, the escaped slave. The Lord of the Rings, in contrast, has never been as controversial as Huck Finn, but in recent years some critics have raised red flags about Tolkien’s portrayal of a racial hierarchy among the wizards, elves, dwarves, and other creatures. It is this mutability that is at the heart of Uncle John’s Band, a work that examines the possibility that a single text can be read to support diametrically opposed points of view.

Artist Bio
Ivan Witenstein is a New York-based artist. His solo exhibition, “Here Comes the Son, Here Comes the Knight,” was on view at Derek Eller Gallery, New York in 2002. His work has also been featured in group shows at Massimo Audiello, New York (2003); New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, Summit (2003); P.P.O.W., New York (2001); Momenta Arts, Brooklyn (2001); Atlanta Contemporary Art Center (2001); and elsewhere. He received an MFA in Sculpture from Yale University School of Art in 1999 and a BFA from the Corcoran School of Art, Washington, D.C. in 1997. He is the Administrative Chair of Fine Art at the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, D.C. He is represented by Derek Eller Gallery, New York.

Sponsorship
Ivan Witenstein’s Uncle John’s Band is a project of the Public Art Fund program In the Public Realm, which is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Council on the Arts, A State Agency, the City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs, the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President, The Greenwall Foundation, The Silverweed Foundation, The JPMorgan Chase Foundation, and friends of the Public Art Fund.

Location
Uncle John’s Band was located at Pier 92 as part of The Armory Show. The Armory Show takes place every year at Piers 90 & 92, Twelfth Avenue at 50th & 52nd Streets.

Press Release (pdf 20k)