Geof Oppenheimer’s practice complicates traditions of formal sculpture to interrogate reactionary American values. His choice of materials and use of subjective forms is central to his critique of the Untied States; precious metals serve as emblems of hyper-realized wealth and wax casting becomes a tool to illustrate the permutable and undetectable nature of the American revolutionary. Through his diverse artistic practice, Oppenheimer manifests political, social, and artistic binaries ranging from fascism vs. democracy, boutique vs. homespun and detention vs. agency.

On view are two large scale mixed-media sculptures, a video, and a series of collage based works on paper. In goldchains headspace freedom, Oppenheimer uses the designs for the alleged outdoor cells in Guantanamo and Bagram as a point of departure to create a freestanding detention center made only of chain-link fencing. Oppenheimer gold plates the chain-link to reference the division between America’s upper echelon and the imprisoned members of the lower classes. goldchains headspace freedom simutaneousely questions the efficiency of rehabilition in the American prision system and serves as a space for meditation and enlightenment through solidary confimement. Oppenheimer’s gold plating also draws reference to the excessive nature of exhibiting wealth in America and alludes to religious iconography such as gold neo-Byzantine halos. In Oppenheimer’s approach, detention centers, both military and civilian, become proposed sites for transgression and atonement.

Oppenheimer’s republic mashup is a mixed media sculpture consisting two wax heads, one pink and one black, resting on silver and gold mirrored pedestals. Both objects sit on a refabricated fake colonial table, which is linked by cables to a DieHard car battery. Oppenheimer’s sculpture incorporates performative strategies: the cast heads, based on the artist’s own image, are further reworked to resemble the facial features of anti-establishment members of alternate American revolutions: the pink head is altered to resemble an anonymous Survivalist spokesman seen at a libertarian compound in Idaho, whereas the black head is altered to approach the facial features of a leader of a Nomadic biker gang in New Mexico.

In the video, Untitled, the text `and it will again’ is trapped in the continual process of becoming. Initially provoking an eternal optimism, the viewer is left questioning the inevitable transgression inherent in a politically-driven promise of destiny.