calendario eventi  :: 

X

25/7/2005

Two exhibitions

Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco

Ron Nagle: Recent Work - Take Shape: a show of works by young sculptors

Rena Bransten Gallery will present a group of small ceramic sculptures by Ron Nagle from his Smallfry and Wedgeware series. As in previous works, his multi-fired polychrome glazes create a range of surfaces from slick glossy to textured matte finishes.

The Smallfry series consists of cup forms with stacked tiers and a wedge-like handle taken from handmade molds. The surfaces are glazed in seductive colors that have a geometric block of contrasting color with a third accenting color around the edges.

Most surfaces are glossy with the exception of one sculpture that has a rich airbrushed matte finish. The Wedgeware series includes vertical sculptures resembling hourglass shapes with handle-like appendages. While some are hand built, they mimic the molded pieces and come with Nagle's clever personalized titles, ranging from Lez is Mo to Don's Johnson. As Jesse Hamlin wrote in his 2004 feature in the San Francisco Chronicle, "He aims for an object that combines elegance and awkwardness that has a certain intangible presence or beauty."

Nagle will have a survey show at the San Jose State University Museum of Art and Design running from August 30 through September 23, 2005. He has been exhibiting his small ceramic sculptures for more than forty years and is included in the collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art among others.

In addition, the gallery will present a show of works by young sculptors entitled Take Shape. Artists included are Libby Black, Margarita Cabrera, Jim Christensen and Leah Modigliani, Andrea Cohen, Seth Koen, Rachael Neubauer, Michael O'Malley and Jared Pankin.

Libby Black and Margarita Cabrera both create life size sculptures meticulously crafted from unconventional materials. Black reproduces luxury items such as Gucci Golf Clubs or Prada handbags using cut paper. She will be included in Bay Area Now 4 opening July 15 that will include a life-size Prada showroom. Cabrera deconstructs household appliances and rebuilds them out of colorful vinyl panels with exposed threads that may include parts of the real appliance for truer effect. Her life-size VW Bug of yellow vinyl was featured at Art Basel Miami Beach last December.

Seth Koen and Rachael Neubauer both use materials that compliment the forms of their sculptures. Koen creates soft orbs of crocheted yarns that hang from the ceiling by long tails or sit on wall shelves like curios or specimens. Neubauer's sculptures are made of shaped polystyrene coated with layers of enamel, lacquer, metal flakes, and sometimes sequins. The works are often shown as diptychs and triptychs emphasizing the relationships between form and materials. Neubauer has a major wall sculpture included in the Eureka Fellowship exhibition at the Berkeley Art Museum through August 14.

Andrea Cohen and Jared Pankin's sculptures both reference landscapes. Cohen's small colorful sculptures refer to Chinese scholar rocks but are carved from Styrofoam with carved wood bases. Cohen also has a larger than life sculpture in the show Make It Now: New Sculpture in New York at the Sculpture Center. Pankin creates freestanding sculptures and wall reliefs from rough scraps and chunks of wood that seem to merge and evolve into realistic branches and trees. Jim Christensen and Leah Modigliani will collaborate to recreate Hans Wegner's clothing valet miniaturized to accommodate a snake's clothing - in this case for a cobra's gray wool cape and herringbone tail covering. Like Christensen and Modigliani, Michael O'Malley's abstract sculptures reference furniture. His works are freestanding or wall sculptures containing stackable shelf-like elements connected to various armatures.

Opening Reception, Thursday, August 4, 5:30-7:30pm

Rena Bransten Gallery
77 Geary Street, San Francisco
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday 10:30 to 5:30, Saturdays 11 to 5.

stampa

permanent link