Josiah McElheny: Cosmic Love

Opening reception: Friday, June 1, 6 – 8pm

It is with absolute pleasure that Corbett vs. Dempsey announces Cosmic Love , an exhibition of new work by Josiah McElheny.  This is the artist’s second show at CvsD.

What is a cosmos?
A world in which things relate to one another however simply or through whatever complexity.  An anchoring system of thought.  A Weltanschauung or guiding philosophy.  A cluster of particles circulating around a point, like planets circumnavigating the sun or water heading down a drain.  A cosmos is a universe.  Or better, in Sun Ra’s formulation, a cosmos is an omniverse.  Not singular, but all-inclusive.

What is Cosmic Love?
A world in which all things relate through mutual respect and transparency.  An anchoring system of rigorous inquiry.  A guiding philosophy of inclusiveness and curiosity.  A cluster of friendly disagreements leading to a betterment through dispute and debate.  An omniverse of funk on the wheel and grit on the stone.

What is “Cosmic Love”?
A recording made by Joe McPhee in 1970, with McPhee playing both the tenor saxophone and the Space Organ.  Music released for the first time on Sound on Sound , a CD issued by CvsD in 2010, then issued as a stand-alone seven-inch single.

What is Cosmic Love ?
An exhibition of new works by Josiah McElheny, a diverse array of pieces that include brilliant and joyous Cosmic Sun Paintings, inspired by Sonia Delaunay; Cosmic Galaxy Paintings, black and blue with impossible inset galactic glass; the Cosmic Blue Trumpet, designed to be played by Joe McPhee; a Cosmic Love Blue Record, which can only been seen, not described; and bottles of the Cosmic Elixir, a handblown blue glass bottle filled with music that has been distilled into liquid form, a magical and elusive potion known to free one from many afflictions and to set the particles of the brain into ultra-high-speed motion.

McElheny has been working on this exhibition in his secret laboratory in Brooklyn for the last year.  He will come out of hiding for a special appearance at the opening, which will be festive and may contain unannounced surprises.  To see what he has been concocting, and perhaps to taste a small preview of McElheny, Corbett, and Dempsey’s upcoming installation at the Carnegie International in October, don’t miss this mysterious view of our new cosmos of love – the omniversal amorous.