Installation view, image courtesy of Et al. gallery
“Reversed Left to Right” Digital print on MDF, ~50″ x 30″, 2013. Image courtesy of Et al. gallery
If not familiar, the title of the exhibition is also the title of a progressive, spoken word cut-up and ambient audio track by Roger Waters of the seminal 1970s band Pink Floyd. Curious, I try to find connections with the work and the title, only to be drawn repeatedly to the concept that the works are unequivocally here together – in visual conversation with each other.
“The Woodcut”, aluminum, fluorescent light fixture,
plexi-mounted Fujitrans, 30″ x 24″, 2013. Image courtesy of Leora Lutz
“1/2 WIOH” Acrylic on paper mounted on plexiglass, 30″ x 22″, 2013. Image courtesy of Et al. gallery
Tony Discenza’s “The Woodcut” is a written piece of fiction describing an encounter with a gloomy and approaching figure – perhaps a ghost, while Andrew Chapman’s “1/2 WIOH” subtle grey washes echoes this mystery. Chris Hoods’ “Line of Sight” is a painted canvas with kitty cats, birds and dogs falling topsy-turvy in a white-washed field making for playful visual antics. In contrast, the buzzing line-work of Aaron Finnis’s “CHROMA III (10MB data)” creates an optical illusion to the eye.
Aaron Finnis
“CHROMA III (10MB data)”, 80″ x 30″, acrylic on door panel, 2013, Image courtesy of Leora Lutz
“Untitled (Building Walls, #1) Archival prints mounted on dibond, 15″ x 20”, 2013. Image courtesy of Et al. gallery
In particular, the work of Cybele Lyle and Kate Bonner seemed the most complimentary. Both artists use collage and photographic images to abstract the landscape as it becomes juxtaposed with architecture. Bonner’s “Reversed Left to Right” is a photo-collage sculpture situated on the floor, forcing the viewer to bend down to look at it head-on, thus reconsidering its location in the gallery and how this work is disrupting that for us. The images are photocopies of architectural photos, and they appear as slices or portals for places that are familiar but cannot be entered into. In comparison, Lyle’s “Untitled (Building Walls, #1)” seems to reiterate dislocation by rearranging photographs into architectural configurations which she then re-photographs. The images are much like a tableau vivant, with places to explore and to imagine.
In hindsight the show is not a departure from the title, since “Several Species…” has been equated with the late past mid-century avant-garde concrete sound poem/progressive music genre. Likewise, the work in the show leans toward fragmented, edited abstraction that all lend themselves to a poetic, visual vocabulary forming a cohesive thread, similar to a concrete poem. The show continues until June 14.
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-Contributed by Leora Lutz
