Tanya Bonakdar Gallery is pleased to announce “Sleep Close and Fast,” Susan Philipsz’s first solo exhibition at the gallery’s Los Angeles location on view July 15 – September 19, 2020. This will be the artist’s debut one-person exhibition on the West Coast, following the US premiere of her twelve-channel installation Prelude in the Form of a Passacaglia (2020) at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on February 6, 2020.

Susan Philipsz, Installation view, Sleep Close and Fast, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, Los Angeles; Photo by Jeff Mclane

“Sleep Close and Fast” presents a new seven channel sound installation featuring recordings of lullabies sung in the artist’s own voice. Culled from a variety of sources including cult horror films, opera and literature, the lullabies chosen all share dark and haunting undertones. Emanating from stainless steel barrels, the sculptural acoustics suggest deep space, distance and memory. The voice recordings are accompanied by a percussion beat set to the rhythm of the artist’s heartbeat, acting as a metronome for the lullaby.

In an adjacent gallery, three organ pipes emit the deeply resonant sound of the artist’s own breath traveling through the instrument, evoking a sense of life and mortality. After producing the recordings of her breath moving through the metal forms, Philipsz projected the sound from a small speaker placed inside each pipe. Physically connected, the noises from the objects overlap and diverge, resembling a call-and-response dialogue suggesting sleep.

On view: July 15 — September 19, 2020; Call the gallery to make an appointment.

What: “Sleep Close and Fast,” Susan Philipsz
Where: Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, 1010 N Highland Ave., LA, 90038
When: By appointment ONLY
Phone: 323 380 7172
Website: http://www.tanyabonakdargallery.com/