KENNY SCHACHTER
Branding
MAIN GALLERY
3 JUNE - 2 JULY 1999


Branding, installation view







Shovelware T-shirts
1999
Computer printed cotton shirts








Shovelware Silverware and Shovelware Tools
1999
Silverware: set of 6 nickel-plated bronze utensils
Tools: set of 5 metal and plastic tools




Sandra Gering Gallery is pleased to present Branding, the first New York one person exhibition of Kenny Schachter, from 3 June 2 July 1999. The exhibition marks the launch of the Schachter-designed label entitled Shovelware. Concurrent with the show, Shovelware debuts on the net at www.artshopit.com.

More Pop Shop than Jorge Pardo and closer to Calvin Klein than Mariko Mori, the Shovelware lifestyle brand includes a wide range of inexpensive products, among them: t-shirts, mugs, silverware, floor coverings, wallpaper, tools and a portrait machine. The silverware is in the form of shovels, pitchforks, switchblades, swords, and rakes very much akin to their functional equivalents. The plastic portrait machine, fabricated in various fashion colors, involves a mechanized scrolling device with interchangeable cartridges for family pictures.

Also included in Branding is the piece Group Show, a fully functional sperm bank comprised of a liquid nitrogen tank. A Mid-West sperm bank was established with the criteria that no blacks or artists be allowed to participate. In contrast, Group Show was created with sperm donations by some of today's most promising emerging artists, giving new meaning to the proverbial product of an artist's hand. In Penelope Leach's renowned book on child rearing she states that artistic inclination is not necessarily a telltale sign of homosexuality. If this is not in fact the case, then samples from the bank could have the added bonus of continuing artists' bloodlines.