Image is one of Doina Adam’s glass pieces, this one, I believe wrapped in thread, at Vox.
Before going for ice cream at Space 1026 Friday night (see post), my friend, curator Andrea Kirsch and I stopped at Vox Populi to see the new members’ show. Stefan Abrams, Doina Adam and Mauro Zamora (and Zamora’s collaborators Carolyn Hesse, Gabriel Boyce and Brooklyn-based artist Paul Loughney) all had new work of a satisfying nature.
Doina Adam’s crocheted monofilament “blanket” on the wall casts great shadows.
Adam’s glass and mixed pieces conjure metaphorical landscapes of the mind. Her works most reminded me of Barry Le Va’s (also internalized landscapes and surreal mindscapes) from his show at the ICA in 2005.
Andrea pointed out the great shadows cast by one Adam piece, a loose “blanket” of crocheted monofilament hung on the wall. Because of its materials and construction the piece is almost invisible. In a way it’s more ephemeral than the grey shadows which become like a drawing on the wall. (I want to point out that this particular space at Vox is the gallery of barely visible art. Justin Witte and others have also put near impossible to see white on white works in this space.)
Mauro Zamora and Carolyn Hesse’s collaborative sculpture/painting also casts some wonderful shadows and colored light.
In back, Zamora’s collaboration with Carolyn Hesse produced another work whose cast shadows draw on the wall. Hesse, whose sculptural works Libby and I had seen at Sharktown in January, made the bent wood ski trails on the wall. And Zamora painted the insides of the bent wood swoops so that what’s cast on the walls is a glowing orange light line as well as the grey shadows. A very nice piece indeed.
Zamora and Paul Loughney’s painting/collage on the wall.
Zamora’s mural on the wall continues his paintings’ inside/outside motif. Here, one wall is worked up with a collaborative collage by Paul Loughney.
Mauro Zamora and Gabriel Boyce’s collaborative drawings with spray graphite and spray paint. Little gems.
And in some delicate, smoky drawings, Zamora and Vox member Gabriel Boyce have poetry on the walls. The tiny collaborative works, made with stencils, spray graphite and white spray paint evoke Sherlock Holmesian London with pea soup fog and suspicious goings on. Very lovely.
Stefan Abrams’ auto show photo at Vox. Cinematic without narrative. They pack a weird visceral punch. You want to piece together the story.
Stefan Abrams‘ auto show photos are amazing. Before I knew they were shot at the auto show I assumed they were staged photos that together made a kind of cinematic whole communicating angst about isolation and unhappiness in our times.
They still communicate that — in spades — regardless of where they were taken.
Another Abrams auto show photo. There must have been a dozen (sorry, my note-taking slipped.
And those magical white dots that appear reflected in the windshields of all the cars? They are some points of magical light, perhaps rays of hope, or perhaps false expectations of good. Who knows. This is a great body of work by Abrams.
The show has a lot of icy, glassy, slippery, reflective surfaces and great shadows as well. All in all the works talk back and forth beautifully in another great members’ show.
