'179 Canal" presents '179 Canal Facade' with "Univers" by Angela Detanico and Raphael Lain, replacing the former signage on the outside of the building. This work uses fragments of the word 'univers' written with the typeface of the same name. Univers is a typeface designed by the Swiss typographer Adrian Frutiger in 1957, the same year in which the ubiquitous Helvetica was designed. Both typefaces are representative of the modernist ideology of simplicity, legibility and universality. All these ideals and principles were questioned during the 1990's when the world became increasingly globalized and many other languages and discourses came to light. Here Detanico and Lain draw a parallel between the atomizing fragmentation of core modernist ideals in the contemporary world and the Big Bang Theory, which explains how the cosmos began as a concentrated point of infinite singularity but rapidly expanded to create many different and complex forms. This process is analogous to the evolution of modern thought in such varied fields as architecture, art, design and philosophy.

A poster campaign will accompany the exhibition, further expanding Detanico and Lain's work in to the city.

Angela Detanico & Rafael Lain were born in 1974 and 1973 in Caxias do Sul, Brazil. They live and work in Paris and São Paulo. They represented Brazil at the 52. Biennale di Venezia. Recent individual exhibitions include Jeu de Paume, Paris; Museu de Arte da Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, Brazil and Musée Zadkine, Paris. They participated in collective shows such as the 10th Bienal Habana, Havana, Cuba; The 26th and 27th Bienal de São Paulo; Le plateau/Frac Ile-de-France, Paris; Encuentro Internacional Medellín 2007, Casa del Encuentro, Medellín, Colombia. They are included in 'Living Under the Same Roof: The Marieluise Hessel Collection and the Center for Curatorial Studies" at Bard College, curated by Ana Paula Cohen  February 20 - May 23, 2010.

For more information on the artists, visit - www.detanicolain.com

Curated by Mari Spirito. Special Thanks to - Consulate General of Brazil in New York, Galeria Vermelho, Sao Paulo, James Trainor, Conrad Lochner, Lisa Spellman, Margaret Lee. www.179canal.com