THE NEW YORK TIMES
Friday, June 20, 2003
Art in Review
Eric Heist

by Holland Cotter

For his exhibition, Eric Heist has transformed Schroeder Romero into the headquarters of a company titled Leisure Management Corporation, a space replete with an intimidatingly high reception desk, a boardroom conference table, an art collection of handsome color-pencil drawings of other corporate offices and an M.B.A. training film that never stops.

Though the office may initially appear shipshape, nothing is quite what it seems. A quick look reveals that the furniture is beyond cheesy; the reception desk and table are supported on stacks of recycled cardboard boxes. And the video, with its carefully staged scenes of power-play decorum, is accompanied by an undignified soundtrack of porn-film cries and moans.

Unsurprisingly, no executive types can be found on the premises, though other figures can. Under the reception desk, behind a sheet of plexiglass like an anthropological specimen or the relics of a saint, wrapped in blankets, is a sleeping figure with long black hair. Under the conference table is another blanket-shrouded figure, male by the look of his shoes, crouching on all fours, as if he were having sex or maybe hunting for something he has lost.

Along with everything else in the installation, Mr. Heist has created the drawings that form the "corporate collection." They are very fine, and clearly he could make a career on his draftsmanship alone. That he is willing to make it part of a larger, riskier and more challenging project is much to his credit, and it pays off in a sly, funky show that, among other things, floats the idea of converting corporate boardrooms into shelters for the homeless.