Cynthia-Reeves presents 'Circuit', John Grade's newest site-specific sculpture; the gallery is the first of three installations of the artist's latest project. Grade's work overtly engages with its surrounding environments, both architectural and natural. When indoors, his work references built space. 'Circuit' will literally engage with the gallery's walls. When presented outdoors, the work evolves materially. Weather patterns affect the work, and the exposed surfaces, evolve, disintegrate and morph into something new. After its debut at the gallery, 'Circuit' travels to Washington State, where it will stay installed on a mountainside for one year. The piece will then travel to a third, to be determined, location for final exhibition. This exhibition follows Grade's acknowledgment by The American Academy of Arts & Letters with the prestigious Willard L. Metcalf Award in Art, along with his participation in their invitational exhibition of visual arts, which ended on April 11th.
Grade created 'Circuit' from a series discreet curvilinear vessels, installed in one large ellipse. Each vessel alternates its orientation: the first vessel convexes and the following vessel concaves, et cetera. The scale is larger than life size, inviting viewers to stand within the vessels' enclosures, a more physical and visceral experience. The corporeal reference implicitly evokes questions of life and mortality, a recurring theme throughout Grade's work. The alternating exterior and interior views of each vessel encourages viewers to experience the whole work from the exterior first, and then from within the sculpture's interior.
Grade created the vessels from a wooden skeleton covered in a glazed ceramic skinbacked with gypsum polymer laminated to corn based resin and marine netting. He chose these unusual materials for their organic properties and textural capacities, both important aspects of his work. All of the materials decompose without negatively affecting the environment.
In Grade's words, "This project continues my investigation into how sculpture can reflect perceptions about landscape and expand these ideas through change and displacement. Because 'Circuit' will be spread over three sites, a complex portrait of this landscape will be captured and a mixture of subtlety and dramatic change should result. The project will be a success when there is evidence of a compelling balance between what I have anticipated and chance events that affect the work in unexpected ways."
For more information please visit the online gallery at cynthia-reeves.com. Cynthia-Reeves is located at at 535 West 24th Street, Second Floor, New York, NY 10011. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 - 6:00.
