This group exhibition's title is derived from one of the Kimber Smith paintings that will be on view. The Magic Flute is also the title of an opera by Mozart--a singspiel--a format that includes both singing and spoken word. In it the main character, a prince named Tamino, is sent on a journey to save his wife-to-be, which ultimately requires him to pass a number of trials ensued by a council of priests. A flute given to Tamino aids and protects, allowing him to “change men’s hearts.”
The artworks on view share a sense of spontaneity as they simultaneously adhere to aspects of known structures from pictorial history. Many of Mozart's coloristically heightened sequences in The Magic Flute were based upon Bach fugues. Similarly, the selected works demonstrate a painterly richness that lends a playfully theatrical twist to canon-derived forms.
The gallery will provide a soundtrack during the exhibition; Harold Budd’s The Pavilion of Dreams (1978), an album of four individual works that span 1972 – 1975, and mark Budd’s return to composing after renouncing it 1970.