Juan Céspedes
19 Oct - 11 Nov 2006
JUAN CÉSPEDES
Look Like Without Be
October 19 ‚ November 11, 2006
Look Like Without Be, Juan Céspedes' third solo exhibition at the gallery, includes an installation of sculptures, wall drawings, and a stop motion animation. Céspedes, who is based in Santiago, Chile, has populated the gallery with a series of sculptures depicting dogs, monsters, body parts, and human forms. Each work is cut from a flat piece of metal, and sits upon its own cast shadow made of black paper and a yellow ellipse representing a spotlight, evoking its own self-contained theatrical environment.
As the title simple states, these objects look like familiar objects without being them: they are flattened and simplified. Céspedes sees these sculptures as an extension of how space functions in painting: within one two-dimensional surface, the painter emulates figures, spaces, light, and shadow. Céspedes has cut-and-folded this illusion back into the third dimension.
Céspedes also engages the gallery space in a series of site-specific installation works. He has illustrated a false door onto the gallery wall as well as a faux-spotlit drawing. Another device Céspedes employs to shift the context of everyday objects is distortion of scale. For Look Like Without Be he has created a series of extremely oversized tee shirts, and an enormous dripping spot of paint on the wall.
In Look Like Without Be, as in his previous exhibitions, Juan Céspedes examines perception, science, human nature, and technology with a playful low-tech wit. Céspedes' work has recently been exhibited at Maze Gallery, Turin, Italy, and the OR Gallery, Vancouver.
The exhibition will be on view from October 19 ‚ November 11, 2006. A reception will be held for the artist at the gallery on October 19th from 6 - 8 PM at 525 West 22nd St., New York City. For information call 212-741-8849.
Look Like Without Be
October 19 ‚ November 11, 2006
Look Like Without Be, Juan Céspedes' third solo exhibition at the gallery, includes an installation of sculptures, wall drawings, and a stop motion animation. Céspedes, who is based in Santiago, Chile, has populated the gallery with a series of sculptures depicting dogs, monsters, body parts, and human forms. Each work is cut from a flat piece of metal, and sits upon its own cast shadow made of black paper and a yellow ellipse representing a spotlight, evoking its own self-contained theatrical environment.
As the title simple states, these objects look like familiar objects without being them: they are flattened and simplified. Céspedes sees these sculptures as an extension of how space functions in painting: within one two-dimensional surface, the painter emulates figures, spaces, light, and shadow. Céspedes has cut-and-folded this illusion back into the third dimension.
Céspedes also engages the gallery space in a series of site-specific installation works. He has illustrated a false door onto the gallery wall as well as a faux-spotlit drawing. Another device Céspedes employs to shift the context of everyday objects is distortion of scale. For Look Like Without Be he has created a series of extremely oversized tee shirts, and an enormous dripping spot of paint on the wall.
In Look Like Without Be, as in his previous exhibitions, Juan Céspedes examines perception, science, human nature, and technology with a playful low-tech wit. Céspedes' work has recently been exhibited at Maze Gallery, Turin, Italy, and the OR Gallery, Vancouver.
The exhibition will be on view from October 19 ‚ November 11, 2006. A reception will be held for the artist at the gallery on October 19th from 6 - 8 PM at 525 West 22nd St., New York City. For information call 212-741-8849.