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Heckler

OCHI GALLERY

AUGUST 13 – OCTOBER 1, 2010


Ochi Gallery is pleased to present our first solo show with Molly Larkey. Opening Reception
August 13th, 6-8 PM at 119 Lewis Street.

Heck ⋅ le [heck-uhl] verb, -led, -ling, noun
-verb (used with object)
1. to harass with impertinent questions, gibes, or the like; badger.

Using the dynamics of stand-up comedy as her point of departure, Heckler is a fitting title for
Larkey’s show. Taking on the role of both performer and audience, Larkey delves into a
rigorous inquisition between artist, concept, material, composition and perception. What
emerges from this process is work that is intellectual, energetic, dynamic and nothing if not
mischievous.

In a vein reminiscent of Joseph Kosuth’s One and Three Chairs, Larkey toys with Saussure’s
idea of sign, signifier and signified by using different methodologies: gluing an object (such as
an egg) to the paper, or painting a word repeatedly (such as "love") until the word begins to be
lost in its own making. Considering herself a heckler, Larkey then methodically begins to
camouflage or efface her words —- heckle, if you will —- mark by mark, layer by layer, drip by
drip, until they all but disappear into a flurry of color and movement. Much of her mark-making
is suggestive of graffiti, connoting a kind of rebellion and defacement.

And yet Larkey’s work does more than merely vandalize these words, objects and semiotic
theories. Fascinated by the awful kind of vulnerability involved with stand-up comedy, Larkey is
interested in that moment when humor turns on itself— - the moment when the audience
doesn’t laugh, or for Larkey, the moment when she decides to destroy her original image. In
calling herself a “heckler,” Larkey is being somewhat disingenuous, for her moments of
deconstruction are creative. For Kosuth, the formal components of the work were not important.
Larkey however, makes pieces that are visually stunning. The works become astute without
being pretentious, informative without being preachy, and beautiful without being easy. Their
physical presence is arresting and while at first subtle, the thought process behind them is
smart, complex, and challenging.