We're telling you, David Quan and Colin Chillag are two lucky art dudes.
In early May, we wrote about Quan and Chillag's participation in the "The Library of Babel/In and Out of Place" exhibit at London's 176 Zabludowicz Collection. Well, a few weeks ago, New Times was fortunate enough to see the work in-person.
Walking from the busy urban area around the Chalk Farm tube station to the neighborhood-y area of Camden, we soon came across the beautiful structure at 176 Prince of Wales Road that originally housed the Central Methodist Chapel from 1867 (when the building was erected) to the 1960s.
It got even better inside. The multi-storied exhibition showcased 217 art pieces in six rooms. All of the works were modern in scope and ran the gamut of media, ranging from Richard Prince's cast urethane Flip-Flops to a two-channel video sculpture by Nam June Paik. Other big timers in this exhibit included Cindy Sherman (whose color photograph hung next to the entry to the room containing Quan and Chillag's piece) and Glenn Ligon, who's currently showing art at the Tate Modern.
Quan and Chillag's Exodus - a 60-by-94 inch, pencil-and-acrylic work on board - was located in the west room of the ground floor. Sharing the space with Exodus included art by Alicja Kwade, Jim Lambie, and Tomoko Nagai.
Our $.02: This is a major breakthrough for the careers of the two creative types, especially since there were only a few weak works out of the 217 on display. It's also important to note that renowned art collectors Poju and Anita Zabludowicz handpicked Quan and Chillag's piece and decided to display it in this show. (The Zabludowiczs' stockpile of more than 1,000 works was recently called "one of the most important private collections of contemporary art today" by Flash Art magazine.)
Congrats, y'all.
