NEW YORK, NY.- D'Amelio Gallery opened its summer group exhibition, Idea is the Object, which features work by a diverse group of artists who rely on a highly experiential approach to their environment, mining the world around them for inspiration. These artists were chosen to participate because of the essential role that experience plays in their artistic practices. Some actively seek out experiences with people and different environments throughout the world as a driving force for the creation of their work while others have a delicate and connected approach to the materials that they take from their surroundings.

Influenced by the writings of philosopher John Locke, Idea is the Object takes its cue from his belief that ideas originate from one's experience of the world and the materials within it. Quite simply, ideas are the objects of thought. These ideas are then the impetus for the production of (art) objects that are placed into the world, perpetuating the formation of new ideas and allowing for this creative cycle to proliferate and continue.

The notion of producing art born out of experience is implicit in contemporary art practice, and is generally understood on an intuitive level. Because of this implicitness, less emphasis is placed on an "experiential approach" to art-making as an organizing or unifying theme among artists. Idea is the Object seeks to resist chronological, medium based, or geographical classifications in order to draw attention to the essential role that experience plays in facilitating the production and understanding of art objects.

Featuring an international group of emerging and mid-career artists from cities including Berlin, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, Oslo, San Francisco, Tel-Aviv, and Vienna, Idea is the Object brings together seemingly disparate works and practices, allowing for a dialogue in real space in which individual artists' experiences and objects may find multiple points of connection with each other and the viewer.

Guy Ben-Ner
Guy Ben-Ner was born in Israel in 1969 and lives in Tel Aviv. Ben-Ner has been featured in many museum exhibitions internationally, including Mass MoCA (2009); Hayward Gallery, London (2008); ICA Philadelphia (2008); Sculpture Project, Münster (2007); and Musée d'Art Contemporain de Montréal (2007). Ben-Ner’s video Stealing Beauty will be on view at SFMOMA this summer. He represented Israel at the 51 Venice Biennale (2005). Ben-Ner recently had a solo exhibition at Konrad Fischer Galerie, Berlin in 2012 and is represented in Chicago by Aspect Ratio Projects.

Andy Boot
Andy Boot was born in 1987 in Sydney, Australia and currently lives and works in Vienna. His work has been exhibited in numerous exhibitions worldwide, including Croy Nielsen, Berlin; Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg, Germany; and MOT International, London. He will have a solo exhibition at Renwick Gallery, New York in 2012.

Candice Breitz
Candice Breitz was born in 1972 in Johannesburg, South Africa. She lives and works in Berlin. Breitz has exhibited widely in the United States and abroad, including the Johannesburg, Sao Påulo, Istanbul, Kwanju, Taipei and Venice Biennales. She has had solo exhibitions at De Appel Foundation, Amsterdam (2001); Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2004); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2005); Temporäre Kunsthalle Berlin (2008); Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humblebaek, Denmark (2008); The Power Plant, Toronto (2009); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2009); and Kunsthaus Bregenz (2010). Breitz is represented by Kaufmann Repetto in Milan and White Cube in London.

Andreas Eriksson
Andreas Eriksson was born in 1975 in Björsäter, Sweden and currently lives and works in Medelplana, Sweden. Eriksson has had solo exhibitions at Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig (MUMOK), Vienna (2008) and Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2010). In 2007 he received the Baloise Art prize for his contribution to Art Statements in Basel, and was chosen to represent the Nordic Pavillion at the Venice Biennale in 2011. He will have a solo exhibition at Stephen Friedman Gallery, London in 2012 and is represented by Sommer & Kohl in Berlin.

Sharon Hayes
Sharon Hayes lives and works in New York City. Hayes’ solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art opened on June 21, 2012, and she is currently the subject of a solo museum retrospective at the Reina Sofia, Madrid. Recent exhibitions include the Venice Biennale, Danish Pavilion (2011), the Whitney Biennial (2010); Greater New York, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center (2010); the Istanbul Biennale (2010); the Yokohama Biennale (2009); Documenta 12, Kassel; and PERFORMA05. Her work has been exhibited at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; the Guggenheim Museum, New York; Tate Modern, London; SFMOMA, San Francisco; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; Deutsche Guggenheim Museum, Berlin; Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna; Tanya Leighton Gallery, Berlin and the Art Institute of Chicago.

John Henderson
John Henderson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1984. He currently lives and works in Chicago. Henderson has had solo exhibitions at T293, Naples (2011); Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2011); and ABC - Art Berlin Contemporary with T293 (2011). His work is currently included in "Phantom Limb: Approaches to Painting Today" at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Upcoming projects include a solo exhibition at Peep-Hole in Milan.

Jacob Dahl Jurgenson
Jacob Dahl Jürgenson was born in 1975 in Copenhagen, where he currently lives and works. He has had solo exhibitions at Croy Nielsen, Berlin (2012); Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, Germany (2011); Institut for Samtidskunst, Copenhagen (2011); and Wilkinson Gallery, London (2007). His work has been included in group shows at Galerie Thaddeaus Ropac, Paris; GAK, Bremen, Germany; and Christian Andersen Gallery, Copenhagen.

Henrik Olai Kaartstein
Henrik Olai Kaarstein was born in Oslo, Norway, in 1989. He is currently studying at the Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste Städelschule in Frankfurt where he lives and works. In 2012, he had a solo exhibition at T293, Rome (2012). His work has also been featured in group shows at Holodeck, Oslo (2011); NICC exhibition space, Antwerpen (2011); and Nordland College of Art and Film, Kabelvåg, Norway (2010).

Deborah Ligorio
Deborah Ligorio was born 1972 in Brindisi, Italy. She now lives and works in Berlin. She has had solo exhibitions at Francesca Minini, Milan (2011); Sommer & Kohl, Berlin (2011); Kunstverein Arnsberg, Germany (2010); and Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Torino (2007). In addition to her participation in Manifesta 7 (2008) and the 54 Venice Biannale (2011), Ligorio's work has been featured in group shows at the Pori Art Museum, Finland (2011); Hangar Bicocca, Milan (2009); Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen (2008); Kunstmuseum Thurgau, Warth (2008) and Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna (2007).

Mitzi Pederson
Mitzi Pederson was born in Stuart, Florida in 1976. She lives and works in both San Francisco, CA and Berlin. She has had solo shows at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2008); Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery, New York (2007, 2010); Ratio 3, San Francisco (2009, 2012); White Columns, New York (2006); and World Class Boxing, Miami (2009). Her work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions, including ACME, Los Angeles; Gladstone Gallery, Brussels; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and Deitch Projects, New York. She also participated in the 2008 Whitney Biennial. Pederson is represented by Ratio 3 in San Francisco.

Amalia Pica
Amalia Pica was born in 1978 in Neuquén, Argentina. She lives and works in London. Pica has had solo exhibitions at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor (2011); Malmo Konsthall, Sweden (2010); and Marc Foxx, Los Angeles (2010). Her work was featured in the 54th Venice Biennale. In 2012, she had solo exhibitions at Kusthalle St. Gallen, Switzerland, Modern Art Oxford, UK, and Chisenhale Gallery, London. Pica is represented by Marc Foxx in Los Angeles, Herald St. in London, and Galerie Diana Stigter in Amsterdam. She will be the subject of a solo exhibition at the MIT List Visual Art Center, Cambridge MA, which will travel to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago in 2013.

Kathrin Sonntag
Kathrin Sonntag was born in 1981 in Berlin where she lives and works. She has had solo exhibitions at Kunstverein Hamburg, Germany (2011); Galerie Kamm, Berlin (2011); Kunstraum Walcheturm, Zurich (2010); and Swiss Institute, New York (2009). She was featured in III Moscow International Biennale for Young Art (2012), and has participated in group exhibitions at Kunstverein Hannover, Germany and the Sculpture Center, New York. In 2011, Sonntag was awarded a DAAD Research Scholarship. She has a forthcoming solo exhibition at the Aspen Art Museum in 2013 and is represented by Galerie Kamm in Berlin.

Matteo Tannatt
Mateo Tannatt was born in 1979 and lives and works in Los Angeles. He has had solo exhibitions at Marc Foxx, Los Angeles, and Y3k Gallery, Melbourne, Australia (both in 2010). His work was featured in Art Parcours at Art Basel, Switzerland (2012), Performa 11, in New York (2011), 'All of This and Nothing' at the Hammer Museum, LA (2010) and in "First Among Equals" at the ICA, Philadelphia (2012). Tannatt is represented by Marc Foxx in Los Angeles.