presents
Sculpture Now 2006
As with any juried show in a public place, given constraints inevitably defined its final look and content. Sculpture Now 2006 is no exception. Nonetheless, the 42 selected works offer insights into the Washington Sculpture’s Group current interests as well as a spectrum of approaches, materials, and themes. From figurative stone studies, mixed media installations, to abstract steel compositions, the exhibition explores science and math, and to a larger extent nature, the self and culture. Several of the works incorporate found objects and natural materials as memory carriers. Some adopt a confessional tone and tap into personal events, while others begin with a generalized experience.
One of the most revealing aspects is the use of titles and their breadth, suggesting a state of being or a narrative, among the many possibilities. Together with the works’ gestures, they stir the imagination and hint at the artists’ intent. The gestures are equally diverse, and encompass both small delicate ones that warn of the imperiled ecosystem or the fragile heart and large bold ones that question the American socio-political landscape or conversely, delve into the realm of the ritual and the archetype for ways out. The exhibition overall is marked by a sense of experimentation and passion: abstraction can become poeticized, and the representational can be enjoyed on purely formal grounds.
Sarah Tanguy