1/12/2001
Surfaces and Support Systems
123 Watts, New York
The exhibition is about ordinary negotiations with things from our daily life. Pictorial and sculptural processes coexist in single structures that are cases of "productive displacements" between function and sculpture, the real and the constructed, surface and support.
Surfaces and Support Systems relates to minimalism and post-minimalism but contradict the tradition’s reliance upon
self-containment and self-importance. The exhibition is about ordinary negotiations with things from our daily life. Pictorial and
sculptural processes coexist in single structures that are cases of "productive displacements" between function and sculpture,
the real and the constructed, surface and support.
Lillian Ball She uses platinum silicone rubber to cast the interior of ordinary household objects such as plumbing fixtures,
bathtubs, shower floors or swimming pools, primarily objects relating to hygiene. The negative space is turned into a solid
greenish blue malleable volume either opaque or translucent. The high sensitivity of silicone rubber translates every textural
detail of the cast surfaces. The source object is the mold from which the work comes: the final object abolishes the contrast
between surface and interiority. TRICK ELBOW, a silicone cast of an elbow joint pipe, once rigid and hidden is soft and exposed. DO
IT YOURSELF DUCT is a rubber pipe leaning against the wall in a soft "Richard Serra-esque" pose.
John Beech Weird abstraction and weird utility come together in a sort of ‘poetics of mal-adjustments’. He uses objects that
are seemingly generic -faceless things- as shapes for his sculptures: the shape of a dumpster, a bumper or dolly wheels,
objects almost invisible because they are used-up in their function. In the ROTATING PAINTINGS, the painting itself - an awkward disk
of Plexiglas - is the handle you would use to turn it. "It’s possible to see the sculpture as a support for the painting or the
painting as a surface feature of the sculpture" he says. The rotating system sets up a way that does not allow a single correct
view. There’s no up or down, no front or back. The paint is runny and the surface is slick. With the SMALL ROLLING PLATFORMS, the
painting is thrown onto its method of conveyance. It becomes a rolling sculpture, a vehicle of itself. The platforms have wheels in
the wrong place, or facing in opposite directions, they go nowhere fast, they get left in the middle of the floor, but still, they
belong where they are left. They demand to be noticed: they are something you would definitely bump into when you look at a
painting.
Jim Nolan The materials used are loaded with references-high and low. The paneling and Formica surfaces echo Barnett
Newman’s zip paintings while the materials themselves trigger memories of do-it-yourself remodeling projects and relate to the
universe of the suburban American home. The construction is simple and the process evident. Materials are redirected, not
transformed and what is absent from the work is as important as what is actually seen. By incorporating back stage elements
and movie-set-like props and tools into the work itself, the objects mimic the makeshift of minimal settings: in BY EXTENSION:
ELEMENT, a crushed beer can holds a Formica beam against the wall, preventing it from slipping. In STALL, SLIGHT RETURN, a flannel
shirt is hanging from the corner of the piece.
David Rodriguez Caballero Juxtaposed squares of Plexiglas coated in white paint read as bathroom tiles even before they
echo the grid and the monochrome. The aluminum elements intensely hand polished, reach a sleek and mirror like state -
paintings devoid of pigment. The Plexiglas sheets are layered with a mixture of paint and resin that causes their opaque surface
to vibrate. Through this sedimentation process, the sensual properties of aseptic and cold materials are recovered. Minute
incrustations of oil paint, outburst of pure color, at the edges of the pieces counterpoint the monotonous treatment of the
backgrounds. The paintings constantly play with balance and unbalance, austerity and intimacy - a hot shower in a tiled
bathroom.
123 Watts located at: 123 Watts Street New York, NY 10013 between Greenwich and Hudson Street, just below Canal Street Tel: 212-219-1482 Fax: 212-274-8339
Hours: 12 to 6 PM Tuesday - Saturday