Wall Work

WALL WORK, curated by Lauren Ross and Elizabeth Ferguson

This group exhibition presents nine artists working with architectural elements and building materials to examine space and structure. Materials conventionally used for construction–such as drywall, metal studs, plaster and board–are displaced, manipulated and reinvented. Many of the pieces in this exhibition are site-specific, responding directly to both the gallery space and its function. There is equal emphasis on line and build, blurring the distinctions between two and three dimensions, drawing and sculpture, art and architecture. The play of walls and space challenges the perception of mass and the impenetrability of structure.

James Huang creates a piece in which it appears that strips of the wall are peeling away and curling like paper; Oona Stern’s “stone” curtain contradicts its own weight and mass; Cindy Poorbaugh creates a wall of low relief tiles, patterned after a small drawing; Kevin Kaempf addresses the function and significance of white columns to the gallery; Margaret Welsh stacks many sheets of particle board to create a 6 ft. wall; Brennan McGaffey sculpts ceiling tiles and base moldings; Thomas Lail explores the transition from industrial to exhibition space by cutting into the wall separating the office and gallery areas; Nadia Coen recesses a geometric chamber into the wall; Alan Wiener incorporates cinder blocks into his sculpture.