Kurt McRobert's signage on the window of Ground Floor Gallery
Ground Floor Gallery’s latest group show, The Constructions, is packed with wonders inspired by the art of Joseph Cornell including sculpture, assemblage, collage, and painting.
“I have a long affair with Joseph Cornell. I love the work. It’s kind of heartbreaking. It’s poetic,” said the exhibit’s curator, John Gagné, during the gallery opening Friday evening. “His kind of working method was [going to] Downtown Manhattan, [into] old bookstores, antique stores, and gathering up all these small bits and then building them into boxes.”
Cornell (1903-1972) crafted dreamlike scenes with found objects arranged inside wooden boxes as intricate tableaux. The self-taught artist called his boxes "constructions,” Gagné added. Learn more about Cornell and see his artwork at Guggenheim.org and artnet.com.
The exhibit features work by 21 local artists, including Kurt McRobert who hand-painted the eye-catching vintage type on the gallery window.
Clockwise from top left: Jon Bunge, Energy #5, 2017; Tony Stanzione, Glass Punching Bag, 1991-2019; Christina Martinelli, MY MEMORIES/OF YOU/HAVE BECOME/SILENT FILMS/YOU CONDUCT/AN ORCHESTRA/NOW AND THEN/I HEAR IT/CALLING ME, 2018; Rachel Wren, Nevertheless, 2017
Clockwise from top left: Barry Rust, Marsh Wheeling Cigar Box Ukulele, 2014; Barry Rust, Club House Cigar Box Ukulele, 2015; George Horner, Enlighten Up, 2014
Clockwise from left: Andrew Robinson, Jamón in the Marais (For the love of Bruno Lenoir and Jean Diot), 2019; Sophia Rauch, Ghost at Lunch, 2018; Sophia Rauch, Stripe Dot, 2018
Barry Rust’s cigar box ukuleles breathe brand new life into found objects while Sophia Rauch’s “literally constructed” photographic works reinterpret Cornell’s tableaux. Rauch created rich abstract scenes with painting, self-portraiture, cardboard, string, and spray paint, according to Gagné. “I think [this] is the essence of what Cornell was doing,” he said.
Assemblage works include Ward Yoshimoto’s compelling mixed media pieces and Susan Greaves’ ornate frames filled with photos and an array of trinkets. Marlene Weisman’s Pop Art Punchboard assemblages and Saved Souls collages mix vintage objects that evoke different eras. Weisman’s recent Super Deep series combines 3D lenticular plastic panels to create captivating images that transform from different vantage points.
Ward Yoshimoto, At the Bell/Papal Escutcheon/Parking on Left, 2001
Clockwise from left: Susan Greaves' Sir Michael, 2014; Lady Diane, 2014; Demonica, 2014; Little Ruth, 2015
Marlene Weisman, Saved Souls Series - #16, 2017 and Barbara J. Norman's School Kids/Palms/Eyes Small/Bricks/Eyes Full, 2019
Marlene Weisman's Super Deep Series: Glam Rock, 2019; Hudson Valley Abstract, 2019; Geometric In Nature, 2019
“I’m always interested in the materials,” Gagné noted before pointing out Tony Stanzione’s wood pieces filled with hundreds of colored pencils providing an unexpected pop of color, as well as the artist’s Brass Dumbells—a pile of shiny doorknobs transformed into a work of art.
Tony Stanzione, Penciled Logs, 1999-2019 and Tree Project, 2019
Tony Stanzione, Brass Dumbells, 2014
With such diverse artwork showcased in the exhibit, Andrew Smenos decided to display six ceramic pieces. “I wanted to make it as straightforward as possible,” he said. The artist’s three 24-karat gold-lustered figures are fixated on their cell phones while catastrophes surround them—Smenos’ other sculptures of a burning building and a pair of sinking ships. “It’s fun to have them in the middle of the three disasters. They just can’t be bothered,” the artist noted.
Andrew Smenos' Idle Worship I, II, III, 2019; Looks Good Going Down, 2019; Destroyer, 2019
Clockwise from back left: Tony Stanzione, Glass Seed Bomb Prototype, 1990; Barbara J. Norman, Franken-Her, 2019; Jordan Maurice, Light Study No. 11, 2019; Andrew Robinson, Reliquary, 2019; Andrew Robinson Chicken Paw, 2019
When curating the exhibit, Gagné was drawn not only to materials but also to the artists’ practice. Of Jordan Maurice’s Light Study No. 11—a stout aluminum base topped with two 9-volt batteries and wrapped with a simple strip of LEDs—Gagné said, “I love seeing the batteries. I like seeing the process. When I saw that work, I thought that walks right into what I’m trying to show.” The intensive manufacturing required to produce Scott Albrecht’s steel tabletop sculpture Rise also appealed to Gagné. “I’m interested in what these artists are capable of doing,” he said.
George Horner, Putties, 1985 (front) and Scott Albrecht, Rise, 2018 (rear)
Like several of the artists included in the group show, Gagné met Albrecht in October during Gowanus Open Studios. Albrecht created his sculpture last year as part of a series of work that “use the same shapes and relationships, but personify different characteristics or situations,” the artist explained. For Rise, he “took the basic geometry of a circle to represent the sun, but abstracted it and personified it” to represent “rising up, rising above.”
Scott Albrecht and his work Thinking/Feeling, 2017
Originally from New Jersey, Albrecht studied graphic design at the Art Institute of Philadelphia. “A majority of my work is mostly informed by abstracted typography,” he said. Albrecht’s puzzle-like Thinking/Feeling overlays the two words in the work’s title. “Because they are overlaid on top of one another, you’re seeing little moments of each word coming through, but as a viewer you can’t really distinguish the words independently,” he explained. “It’s intentional because those two ideas are conflicting with each other. They’re fighting for your attention, and in the end because they are in direct competition, [neither] can get resolved.” Albrecht adds that his intention is to encourage viewers to slow down and “have them meditate on those ideas [and] find their own relationships.”
Earlier this year Gagné launched Gagné Contemporary, an online gallery where he represents 13 NYC-based artists and organizes exhibits, studio visits, gallery tours, and more. Originally from Canada, he traveled across Europe in 80s and 90s creating experimental films. Gagné worked in advertising as a Creative Director for twenty years, moving to NYC eight years ago. He left the ad industry three years ago to focus on art—his “first love,” he says.
“Gowanus, Bushwick, Greenpoint, Red Hook, DUMBO…they’re filled with really good, strong artists doing great work and I love being able to share that,” Gagné said. Head over Ground Floor Gallery and check out work by 21 of those artists.
The Constructions: A Complete Fabrication
Ground Floor Gallery, 343 5th Street, Park Slope
On view November 22-December 8
Learn more here.
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