In conjunction with Matthew Barney’s proposition, Dr. Michael K. Bartalos, a physician, and his son Gabe Bartalos, a special-effects makeup artist, will discuss their work in relationship to death. Barney will consider this discussion in regard to his current work in development, Ancient Evenings.

Dr. Michael K. Bartalos is a New York City-based author and physician specializing in internal medicine at Columbia University Hospital. Dr. Bartalos organized a seminar on the subject of death at Columbia University that took place annually between 1990 and 2008. He has recently published a book called Speaking of Death.

Gabe Bartalos is a prosthetic makeup effects artist, specializing in character effects and explicit gore. He has handled the prosthetic makeup effects for Matthew Barney since 1991, with works including Cremaster 1-5 (1995-2002), March of the Anal Sadistic Warrior (1998), De Lama Lamina (2007), Drawing Restraint 9 (2005), and the 2008 Los Angeles live performance of Ren. He is best known for his special make-up effects artistry for films including Leprechaun (1993), Sometimes They Come Back (1991), Sideshow, and The Hollow (2004). Early in his career Bartalos left his mark in the horror genre by teaming up with director Frank Henenlotter on horror classics such as Brain Damage (1998), Frankenhooker (1990), Basket Case 2 (1990), and Basket Case 3 (1992). He made his directorial debut in 2004 with the critically acclaimed surrealistic feature film Skinned Deep, which he also wrote and produced. He lives and works in Los Angeles.

Matthew Barney’s proposition will consider his current project in development: Ancient Evenings. As part of this program, Barney will share the storyboards for the seven-act performance and video sequences from acts that have already been performed.

Ancient Evenings is a seven-act opera loosely based on Norman Mailer’s eponymous 1983 novel set in Egypt, and is currently in development by Barney and composer Jonathan Bepler. Each act of the opera chronicles one of the seven stages that the soul passes through after death of the body. Remaining true to the original theme of rebirth and reincarnation, Ancient Evenings recasts the central myth of Isis and Osiris in a contemporary industrial landscape, in which Barney has replaced the human body with the body of the 1967 Chrysler Imperial that was the central motif from his earlier film Cremaster 3.

Matthew Barney creates frequently large-scale and intricately interconnected work as a sculptor, filmmaker, and performer. His work, which often features a fantastical engagement with the rituals of sports and ceremony, has addressed existential instability and transformation through the pataphysical metaphor of sexual differentiation (among other complex cosmological themes). Barney is the producer and creator of the Cremaster film cycle, Drawing Restraint 9, and numerous live performances, including a recent collaboration with Elizabeth Peyton entitled Blood of Two (2009). Barney won the Europa 2000 prize at the 45th Venice Biennale in 1996 and was the first recipient of the Guggenheim Museum’s Hugo Boss Award in 1996. He received the Kaiser Ring Award in 2007.

Propositions is made possible by Eve Steele and Peter Gelles, with endowment support generously provided by the Charlotte and Bill Ford Artists Talks Fund.

The structure of Propositions is as follows:
Friday, 7PM: Initial proposition and lecture
Saturday, 12PM: Discussion with Dr. Michael K. Bartalos & Gabe Bartalos

Propositions is a public forum that explores ideas in development. Inspired by the scientific method of hypothesis, research, and synthesis, each two-day seminar explores a topic of current investigation in an invited speaker’s own artistic or intellectual practice. Over the course of a seminar session, these developing ideas are presented to the public, responded to, “researched,” and discussed to propel the ideas forward in unique ways.

The structure of Propositions is as follows:

Friday, 7:00 PM – Initial proposition and lecture
Saturday, 12:00 PM – Guest speaker responds, followed by Discussion

One Friday evening per month, an invited artist or cultural thinker will present on an idea in process—the hypothesis—as the seminar topic. This initial presentation introduces the seminar leader’s current thinking on a concept or idea as well as unresolved questions that remain. The next day, starting at noon, an “expert” lecture, screening, performance, or activity presents new perspectives or specific knowledge, followed by a lunch break. In an afternoon discussion, hypothesis, research, and public dialogue converge in an informal working session in the fifth-floor Museum as Hub space at the New Museum.

Propositions is part of the Museum as Hub initiative, a laboratory for art and ideas realized through a partnership of five international arts organizations that includes Insa Art Space, Seoul; the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City; the Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cairo; and the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven. The initiative seeks to support art activities and experimentation; explore artistic, curatorial, and institutional practice; and serve as an important resource for the public to learn about contemporary art from around the world.