VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is pleased to present Perspectives 172: Kirsten Pieroth, on view October 1, 2010 - January 2, 2011. Gallery Walk-Through and Opening Reception Thursday, September 30, 2010, 6:30-9pm (6:30pm: Gallery walk-through with the artist; 7-9pm: Opening reception).

Berlin-based artist Kirsten Pieroth plays with the materials and histories of everyday objects--books, maps, plastic bottles, telephone poles, and furniture parts. Looking for loose connections and unexpected possibilities in and between commonplace things, she uncovers unexpected opportunities for transformation and storytelling. Perspectives 172: Kirsten Pieroth is the artist's first solo museum exhibition and includes sculptures and an installation.

Filled with low-key humor and conceptual-art smarts, Pieroth's work restages the world as a mutable funhouse, where established functions are simply starting points for musings on the meanings and materiality of everyday life. Borrowing an inspirational spark from the experimental, life-engaged German artist Joseph Beuys (1921-1986), Pieroth celebrates the ordinariness of art-making and the belief that mundane objects can be powerful sources of energy and inspiration.

For her CAMH project, Pieroth investigates radio and telephone technology and the work of pioneering radio scientist Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937), who in 1895  began laboratory experiments where he succeeded in sending wireless signals over a distance of one-and-a-half miles. Pieroth creates tabletop sculptures made from rings of spaghetti sticks arranged in mounds of dirt to represent antenna arrays, and strings wire between two wooden sofa end pieces to make a Morse code broadcasting device.

The exhibition is curated by Toby Kamps, Senior Curator at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Kirsten Pieroth was born in 1970 in Offenbach, Germany, and lives and works in Berlin. Solo exhibitions include: ... kommen Sie doch, kommen Sie. Treten Sie mit mir in dieses Zimmer, Marie! (with Henrik Olesen), Cubitt, London (2005); Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver (2004); From the Laboratory of Thomas A. Edison, Portikus, Frankfurt (2003); and I regret that a previous engagement prevents me from accepting your kind invitation to dinner at your home, on Thursday evening, September seventeenth, Galerie Klosterfelde, Berlin (2003). Group exhibitions include: The Need to Document, Kunsthaus Baselland, Basel, Switzerland (2005); Drafting Deceit, Apexart, New York (2004); Manifesta 5, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain (2004); and GNS - Global Navigation System, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2003).

PUBLICATION
Perspectives 172: Kirsten Pieroth is accompanied by a catalogue, featuring an essay by Toby Kamps, color reproductions of exhibited work, and the artist's biography.

Perspectives catalogues are made possible by a grant from The Brown Foundation, Inc.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS
All events are free and open to the public, and take place at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston unless otherwise noted. For complete listings and current information, please check www.camh.org.

Gallery Walk-Through and Opening Reception
Thursday, September 30, 6:30-9pm
Celebrate the opening of Perspectives 172: Kirsten Pieroth. The artist will lead a gallery walk-through at 6:30pm. Reception with cash bar and Fusion Taco truck.

EXHIBITION SUPPORT
The Perspectives Series is made possible by major grants from Fayez Sarofim; The Studio, the young professionals group of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston; and by donors to the Museum's Perspectives Fund: Anonymous, Bright Star Productions Inc., Fusion Taco, Heidi and David Gerger, Leslie and Mark Hull, Anne and David Kirkland, Karol Kreymer and Robert J. Card, M.D., Kerry Inman and Denby Auble, Belinda Phelps and Randy Howard, Lauren Rottet, Leslie and Shannon Sasser in Honor of Lynn Herbert, Sara Dodd-Spickelmier and Keith Spickelmier, William F. Stern, 20K Group, LLC, and Laura and Rob Walls.

EDUCATION SUPPORT
The Museum receives support for its education programs from: Anonymous, Baker Botts L.L.P., Baker Hughes Foundation, Ruth Dreessen, Louise D. Jamail, John P. McGovern Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. I.H. Kempner III, Kinder Morgan Foundation, M.D. Anderson Foundation, Marian and Speros Martel Foundation Endowment, Mrs. Louisa Stude Sarofim, and 20K Group, LLC.

Teen Council is supported by Mrs. Louisa Stude Sarofim with additional support from Baker Hughes Foundation.

GENERAL SUPPORT
The Museum's operations and programs are made possible through the generosity of the Museum's trustees, patrons, members and donors. The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston receives partial operating support from the Houston Endowment, Inc., the City of Houston through the Houston Museum District Association, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts and The Wortham Foundation, Inc.

Continental Airlines is the official airline of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

CAMH MISSION
The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is an idea and a place shaped by the present moment. The Museum exemplifies the dynamic relationship between contemporary art and contemporary society through its exhibitions, public and educational programs, and publications. The CAMH provides the physical and intellectual framework essential to the presentation, interpretation, and advancement of contemporary art; it is a vibrant forum for artists and all audiences, and for critical, scholarly, and public discourse.

ALWAYS FRESH, ALWAYS FREE

GENERAL INFORMATION
The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is located at 5216 Montrose Boulevard, at the corner of Montrose and Bissonnet, in the heart of Houston's Museum District. Hours are Wednesday 11am-7pm, Thursday 11am-9pm, Friday 11am-7pm, Saturday and Sunday 11am-6pm. Admission is always free. For more information, visit www.camh.org  or call 713 284 8250.

Pictured above:  Kirsten Pieroth, detail Telegraphy, 2009 (installation view). Sofa posts, Morse key, radio, wire. 29 1/2 x 165 1/4 x 25 1/8 inches. Courtesy the artist.  (full image below).