plaster – Page 2 – Art Spiel

April 15, 2020March 27, 2020, by Etty Yaniv

Artists on Coping: Daniel John Gadd

During the coronavirus pandemic, Art Spiel is reaching out to artists to learn how they are coping.

Screen Shot 2020-03-26 at 4.34.30 PM.png — Daniel John Gadd, Assembling an Octopus, 2019,111 x 100 x 12 in. – oil, wood, copper, rope, mirrored glass, steel, epoxy resin and marble on wooden supports

Daniel John Gadd is an artist living and working in New Jersey. His work blurs the boundaries of painting and sculpture, abstraction and figuration, and “high” and “low” art. His work is fragile, violent, aggressive, and sensitive all at once, reflecting (literally, with his use of mirrors in much of his work), and sharing our complexity with an acceptance of all of what we are, and in the end, what makes us human. His most recent exhibition Animal was on display at M. David & Co. last fall.

August 2, 2019August 2, 2019, by Etty Yaniv

Ground Histories at PS122

Installation view of the East room: (right) david Goodman, (mid) Will Crowin, (left) Heidi Lau, photo credit Tommy Mintz

The grouping of mostly floor-bound sculptures in “Ground Histories”, the current group show curated by Will Corwin at PS122 Gallery, not only pulls our attention to the ground, but also makes us aware of what is underneath its surface – archaeological artifacts, graves, excavated memories. In the east room a triangular layout consisting of Will Corwin’s altar-like sculpture, Heidi Lau’s arched-shape ceramic sculpture sprawling, and David Goodman’s forte-like structure, create a sense of both tension and connectivity. Made of plaster and sand, painted with terra cotta and white tempera hues, and tied with rough ropes, Corwin’s “Jaw” is a rectangular free-standing sculpture that draws literally upon teeth and invokes the idea of the archaic – an architectural ruin from an unidentified culture, or an archaeological artifact with an enigmatic ritual significance. The tooth, a pivotal element in both forensics and bioarcheology, can be read in Corwin’s sculptures as a loaded metaphor for what it means to be human.

May 20, 2019May 21, 2019, by Michal Gavish

Long Time Passing – A Campfire Story

Jeannine Bardo at Stand4

In her recent exhibition at the New York Stand4 gallery, Jeannine Bardo displays her art in the wall and on the wall. The Brooklyn artist paints, scratches, plasters, and finds objects from nature that add up to a set of narratives that she titles “Long Time Passing/ A Campfire Story.” The artworks are subtle, with almost no color. The carvings and objects are not clearly visible at first glance. Bardo invites her viewers to take their time, sit by the fire, and listen as she unravels her tales, using shiny spots that glitter along their progression. As the stories unfold, her calm work reveals a sense of menace that continues throughout the narrative path.

Lifelines, 2019; image by Laura Sacks

September 27, 2018November 15, 2020, by Etty Yaniv

Katya Grokhovsky’s Rigorous Play

Katya Grokhovsky‘s performances and sculptural works embody raw energy fueled by her rigorous and uncompromising process. Grokhovsky’s work is extreme, fearless, cohesive, and ambitious. With great agility she combines media like performance, video, drawing, and sculpture to create immersive environments that delve us deep into a chaotic unknown – the complexity of self, the duplicity of social norms, the twilight zones of life and art. In this interview for Art Spiel Grokhovsky elaborates on her impetus, ideas, and projects as a prolific artist and curator.

Katya Grokhovsky,Bad Woman, 2017, video still

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August 28, 2018May 30, 2020, by Sharilyn Neidhardt

David Wojnarowicz – The Fire Still Burns

By Sharilyn Neidhardt

David Wojnarowicz , Untitled (Face in Dirt), 1991 (printed 1993). Gelatin silver print, 19 × 23 in. (48.3 × 58.4 cm). Collection of Ted and Maryanne Ellison Simmons. Image courtesy the Estate of David Wojnarowicz and P.P.O.W, New York

Like a gut-punch for the eyes, The David Wojnarowicz show History Keeps Me Awake at Night at the Whitney Museum of American Art hits the viewer with a visceral, almost-physical jolt of emotion. Bodies are veiled in photographic shadow and light, primary colors leap off large canvases stuffed with collage, lighted globes and spoken words combine to map out the passion and rage experienced by the artist in his relatively short life. There is such variety in the exhibition that my friend and I almost missed a whole gallery, mistaking it for a different artist’s work.

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