Number 35 is pleased to present the first New York exhibition of Düsseldorf-based artist Martin Schwenk. The works of Martin Schwenk are in a sense classical plant sculptures, but rather than simply mimic nature, his works are pure fabrication.

With silicon, Plexiglas and plaster, the artist forms his objects. On first view, several appear like representations from scientific textbooks, the enlarged view of a microorganism. Upon closer inspection, one sees the artist's hand: the brushstroke on a leaf or a thumbprint in the stem. Grounded in a definite form, the work removes itself of its fictitious representation. In their frailty and bizarreness, their first appearance of conventionality breaks up into it's own peculiar cosmos.

In this installation, the sculptures spread both horizontally and vertically, fully capturing the space in the gallery. One has the impression that the gestures could continue to spiral into infinity. However, this is not free flowing foliage, but a stylized yet open system. Maneuvering through, the possibility arises to experience nature, art and abstraction simultaneously and in the same part.