Hanging from the ceiling, Chris Doyle has constructed an eagle with a 25-foot wingspan. Made from fluorescent tubes, the illuminated centerpiece of the exhibition uses this prime symbol of American patriotism to investigate the multiple associations with freedom and predator. In a related video, entitled Power, Doyle creates a stop-action animation from the skeleton of his giant aviator. His video is then encased within the face of a sterling silver Western style belt buckle, presenting this miniaturized icon as ready-to-wear. Blurring the boundaries between repression and freedom, the artist explores many strains of our struggle with public and private power, whether it be through our experience of politics or sex.

Video and sculptural elements of this exhibition will run concurrently at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, in a series NextNextArt2005, curated by Dan Cameron.

Doyle has previously enjoyed recognition for many of his public art projects, including Commutable (1996), where he gold-leafed the steps to the Manhattan entrance of the Williamsburg Bridge (Public Art Fund); and LEAP (Creative Time) (2000), a projection on 2 Columbus Circle of larger-than-life people (who live on the last stops of the subway lines) jumping into the sky. His installations and video works have been included in exhibitions at The New York Video Festival at Lincoln Center, The Brooklyn Museum, P.S.1, the Queens Museum of Art, and Socrates Sculpture Park.

Related blog posts: Edward Winkleman