Philadelphia-based artist Alex Da Corte, who celebrates his first major museum solo exhibition at MASS MoCA in 2016, has taken over gallery Luxembourg & Dayan’s East 77th Street townhouse for his newest installation, Die Hexe (“The Witch,” but for the artist it means “death of symbol”). Da Corte’s haunted house tableau references everything from his grandmother (who was a dollhouse maker), to the building’s former residents (The Mamas & the Papas), to Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s decadent 1972 film, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant. The artist also joins his personal history with that of the art world. Die Hexe features cleverly hidden nods to artists like Mike Kelley, Robert Gober, and Haim Steinbach, taking visitors “on a journey through surreal interiors where familiar imagery and obscure biographical references mingle, repeat, trade places, and morph into new provocations that invite reflections upon memory, impulse, the stability of knowledge, and what constitutes value in a work of art.” Die Hexe will be on view at Luxembourg & Dayan through April 11.
Installation view of Alex Da Corte, Die Hexe, 2015. Photo by John Bernardo, Courtesy of Luxembourg & Dayan, New York.
Installation view of Alex Da Corte, Die Hexe, 2015. Photo by John Bernardo, Courtesy of Luxembourg & Dayan, New York.
Installation view of Alex Da Corte, Die Hexe, 2015. Photo by John Bernardo, Courtesy of Luxembourg & Dayan, New York.
Installation view of Alex Da Corte, Die Hexe, 2015. Photo by John Bernardo, Courtesy of Luxembourg & Dayan, New York.
Installation view of Alex Da Corte, Die Hexe, 2015. Photo by John Bernardo, Courtesy of Luxembourg & Dayan, New York.
Installation view of Alex Da Corte, Die Hexe, 2015. Photo by John Bernardo, Courtesy of Luxembourg & Dayan, New York.
Installation view of Alex Da Corte, Die Hexe, 2015. Photo by John Bernardo, Courtesy of Luxembourg & Dayan, New York.
Installation view of Alex Da Corte, Die Hexe, 2015. Photo by John Bernardo, Courtesy of Luxembourg & Dayan, New York.
Installation view of Alex Da Corte, Die Hexe, 2015. Photo by John Bernardo, Courtesy of Luxembourg & Dayan, New York.
Installation view of Alex Da Corte, Die Hexe, 2015. Photo by John Bernardo, Courtesy of Luxembourg & Dayan, New York.
Installation view of Alex Da Corte, Die Hexe, 2015. Photo by John Bernardo, Courtesy of Luxembourg & Dayan, New York.
Installation view of Alex Da Corte, Die Hexe, 2015. Photo by John Bernardo, Courtesy of Luxembourg & Dayan, New York.