Big & Small/Casual Gallery
10-20 45th Road, (917) 847 8613
Long Island City
May 11 - May 20, 2012
Reception: Friday, May 11, 6 - 8 PM
Web Site
A survey of sculpture thorough smaller works by
Mike Ballou; Adam Brent; Mary Carlson; James O Clark; Caroline Cox; Dido Crosby; Katharina Denzinger; Matt Freedman; Linda Ganjian; David Henderson; Todd Lambrix; Bix Lye; Shari Mendelson; Christian Nguyen; Jim Osman; Eung Ho Park; Thaddeus Radell; Jude Tallichet; Bill Thompson; Scott Verhagen; David Weinrib; Natalia Zubko
Here are 22 artists whose unifying principle is that they think 3-Dimensionally and occasionally produce works on an intimate scale. My own feeling is that we don’t see enough good contemporary sculpture, and this is an opportunity to experience a miniature survey of some great work. Some artists, such as Mary Carlson often specifically address issues of scale and determinedly make us notice the small, the quiet or the otherwise overlooked. Others, like Caroline Cox, Linda Ganjian, Eung Ho Park and Natalia Zubko work cumulatively, collecting and combining small individual components, which evolve and grow, sometimes in relation to their surroundings. Katharina Denzinger, Shari Mendelson and Adam Brent recycle, transform and resurrect otherwise throwaway domestic items.
Minimalism – in miniature, informs the work shown by Jim Osman, Bill Thompson, Christian Nguyen, Bix Lye and David Henderson, and all six use color to accentuate form. Henderson also produces meditations in materiality, exploiting the properties of modern materials, particularly in relation to weight and transparency. In this show, Jude Tallichet uses materials performatively in a site-specific piece. Thaddeus Radell’s pieces are materials-driven, and have a fetishistic quality also present in Todd Lambrix’s tiny, portable, obsessively worked, sensuous soft sculptures.
Matt Freedman tends to create narratives: he is also a self-proclaimed ‘Clumpist’ – tendencies shared by Scott Verhagen and Mike Ballou – at least, in the work they’re showing here.
Mike Ballou and Dido Crosby present ‘animal sculptures’ – Ballou’s come from close observation and have a theatrical dark life to them. David Weinrib shows a piece that continues his exploration of organic, flowing forms. David Weinrib and Jim (James O) Clark are alike in their long tradition of defying definition. Jim’s contribution will be revealed at the last minute.