Press Release: Nate Cassie

New Works: 97.3
11.15.97

THE INTERNATIONAL ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM

New Works: 97.4

Nate Cassie, SAN ANTONIO, TX

I–igo Manglano-Ovalle, CHICAGO, IL

Hale Tenger, ISTANBUL, TURKEY

Exhibition: December 11, 1997 ?nuary 11, 1998

The International Artist-in-Residence Program, sponsored by ArtPace, A Foundation
for Contemporary Art | San Antonio presents New Works: 97.4, a series of
installations by artists living and working at ArtPace. Nate Cassie, Inigo Manglano-
Ovalle and Hale Tenger were selected by the March 1996 IAIR Program Panel consisting
of Elizabeth Armstrong, David Avalos, Dana Friis-Hansen, Thelma Golden and Maaretta
Jaukkuri. Work produced by the artists during their eight-week residency will open to the
public on Thursday, December 11, 1997.

Nate Cassie

Born in 1970 in Somerville, NJ, Nate Cassie lives and works in San Antonio, TX. Cassie
holds a BA from Hope College in Holland, Michigan, and an M.F.A. in Sculpture from
the University of Texas at San Antonio. Cassie has exhibited one-person shows at the
Satellite Space, San Antonio; and Carrington Gallagher Fine Art, San Antonio. He has
also participated in group exhibitions in a number of San Antonio art spaces including
Sala Diaz, Cactus Bra, Blue Star Art Space and 1203 Art Space.

Cassie's work has investigated spatial relationships, the gaze and the social.
Employing a range of materials and techniques, Cassie incorporates photography, optical
tools, architecture and viewer participation in his installations. Past works have ranged in
content and form, including site-specific minimalist installations, low-tech black-and-
white photography, arrangements of found objects and sound environments.

At ArtPace, Cassie has turned the exhibition space inside-out with an installation
entitled olifant/Funhouse. A wall closes the space off from the viewer, creating
an intimate hallway. From this wall, covered in dark-gray vinyl leatherette, viewers peer
through six peep-holes arranged in the form of the constellation Casseopia. Through
these lenses, the audience discovers a series of views of the space they are in and the
inaccessible space. Creating optical effects, one view is of a fluorescent-lined corridor
leading to a steel table over which hangs a back-lit photograph of a pair of eyes. Another
oculus presents a video monitor of the viewer as a surveillance camera documents the
viewer as (s)he views. A low peephole presents video projection of computer animation,
a psychedelic image of eyes pulsating with bright colors. A throbbing soundtrack plays
both in and outside the space, a sampling of a crowd and industrial sounds which
heightens the sense of mystery and discovery. olifant/Funhouse effectively
negotiates the tension between private and public spaces, voyeurism and curiosity, self-
analysis and sociology.

445 North Main Avenue San Antonio TX 78205 t 210 212 4900 f 210 212 4990 www.artpace.org