Harambe, Fallen Trees and a Mutant Duck: Stanya Kahn’s R.U.in.ART Commission

At Frieze Los Angeles 2023, Stanya Kahn will create the newest iteration of the R.U.in.ART Commission: an annual initiative that invites a Californian artist to realize a commission in the Ruinart lounge at Frieze Los Angeles.

Kahn’s commission, titled Understory, takes the form of an installation in which elements of the natural world frame paintings and sculptures depicting lone animals in imagined wilds. Drawing on her 2022 exhibition at Vielmetter Los Angeles, Forest for the Trees, the installation references forms of life that dwell between the forest floor and the canopy.

The paintings feature a selection of animals – an endangered ivory-billed woodpecker; Harambe, the tragically slain silver-back gorilla from Cincinnati Zoo; and a coyote who took up residence in Kahn’s own backyard – all pictured amidst lush, vibrant landscapes, seemingly untouched by humankind. Each painting is encased in a deep profile frame assembled from planks of old-growth redwood salvaged from the walls of the artist’s studio. Resembling window boxes housing alternate worlds, these custom frames hold ceramic snakes, skulls, and other organisms and artifacts creating dioramic mise-en-scènes.

Throughout the installation, fallen tree sections serve as plinths for ceramic and bronze figures and wheel-thrown vessels resembling artifacts, serving as markers of history and human intervention. Meanwhile, an animation of a mutant duck caught in the entropic cycle of flood waters followed by drought, plays on loop on a screen. 

Invoking the ‘understory’ of the Anthropocene's narrative of domination and exploitation, the installation offers a dream-like respite, while at the same time inviting audiences to contemplate their relation to collapse, transformation and possible renewal. ‘By portraying wild and invented species gazing back at us,’ notes Ruinart’s Fabien Vallérian, ‘she puts the spotlight on human accountability and the necessity to change our interface with the natural world. The awareness that Kahn’s artworks raise is in line with the values that Ruinart champions, such as sustainability and biodiversity.’

Continuing a tradition of participation in the R.U.in.ART Commission, visitors to the instalation will be invited to take away unique hand-thrown porcelain cups especially created by Kahn to accompany the installation, in a limited edition of 100.

In consultation with the artist, Ruinart has pledged a contribution from the sale of every glass of Ruinart champagne at the fair to be donated to the Los Angeles-based urban agricultural non-profit organization Ron Finley Project, which seeks to empower communities by teaching methods to grow food and regenerate arid land.

_{Main image: Stanya Kahn, Leucistic Penguin, 2022. Oil on canvas with reclaimed old growth redwood frame and three porcelain sculptures. Courtesy: the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles. Photo: Brica Wilcox © Stanya Kahn 2022}