Andrew Holmquist

Ü
Wood posts, spray paint, orange safety fence, blue painters tape
275 x 50 feet

Artist Statement
The open plot of land to the left of my apartment offered a huge opportunity to grab people’s attention with an installation. I wanted to create an image in the landscape that clicks into place as you pass by, designed for the drive-by experience, and reminiscent of the anamorphic perspective of corn rows locking into place as you pass by them in a car, a familiar wonder from my childhood in Minnesota. I wanted to use construction materials – wooden stakes, plastic orange safety fencing, neon spray paint, and painter’s tape – that are fitting for an empty plot waiting to be built, and might at first viewing seem like the outlines of a construction site rather than a work of art. A smiley face seemed like an appropriate image to reward the curious onlooker with as they encounter and unlock the work as they move around it – the work of art smiles back at you as you smile at it in recognition. In this sweet spot, forced perspective creates the illusion of an orange column leading from the sidewalk straight up to a fenced in plot of trees 300 feet above. The rising sun back-lights the installation, a glowing blue smile beams down. However, the smile could also be read as a Ü, a hanger-on from my recent relocation from Berlin. Its up to Ü to decide!

Andrew Holmquist
Ü
Wood posts, spray paint, orange safety fence, blue painters tape
275 x 50 feet

Biography
Andrew Holmquist (b.1985) is an artist based in Los Angeles. He received his BFA (2008) and MFA (2014) from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He was invited to participate in the 2016 Vancouver Arts Festival where his work was featured in the exhibition Drama Queer, examining the queer perspective in contemporary art. In 2017 his paintings were included in the exhibition “Eternal Youth” at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Curated by Manilow Senior Curator Omar Kholeif. His work is in the permanent collections of Rachofsky Collection at The Warehouse, Dallas, the Illinois State Museum, the Providence College Collection, the University of Illinois, the University of Chicago, the Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection, as well as the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection, The Progressive Art Collection, the BMO Harris Art Collection, and the First Midwest Bank Collection. He has had solo and group exhibitions in Chicago, Los Angeles, NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Nashville, Vancouver, and Berlin.