In Galleries One & Two
“When I made the first group of altered photographs, I was working in Richard Hawkin’s studio for the Sperm Cult show at LAXART in Los Angeles. He printed me out a bunch of pictures from the shoots with which we’d put together the publication that served as the basis of the show. I knew that I wanted to manipulate them somehow with paint — photoshop by other means, I was thinking, since I’m not very tech savvy. He told me there was a tub of pig’s blood in the refrigerator and I was free to make use of that. I wanted to but didn’t.”
— Elijah Burgher, July 2020
For his fourth show at Western Exhibitions, Elijah Burgher will present a series of photographs from rituals, daily life and other sources that are hand manipulated with bleach, ink and other liquids in Gallery 1 and a small group of drawings depicting friends and sigils in Gallery 2. At this point (July 1, 2020), the show will not have an opening reception and will be open by appointment, Tuesday through Saturday, 11am to 5pm. Please email or call (312) 480-8390 to schedule a visit.
Elijah Burgher (1978, Kingston, NY) was featured in the 2014 Whitney Biennial, the 2014 Gwangju Biennial (as part of AA Bronson’s “House of Shame”), and The Temptation of AA Bronson at the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam; had a solo show at Ivan Gallery in Romania in 2018; and was recently included in shows at Centre d’Art Contemporain in Geneva, Switzerland The Drawing Center in New York City, LAXART in Los Angeles and the Des Moines Art Center in Iowa. He has been a resident at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and the Fire Island Artist Residency. His work has been discussed in The New York Times, Art in America, Frieze, ArtReview, Artforum.com and was included in VITAMIN D2, the hardcover survey of contemporary drawing. He received a MFA from the School of the Art Institute, Chicago and a BA from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY. Elijah Burgher is represented by Western Exhibitions in Chicago, Horton Gallery in Dallas, and P.P.O.W in New York City. He lives and works in Berlin.