Klara Kristalova "Sounds of Dogs and Youth"

Lehmann Maupin (536 W 22nd Street)

poster for Klara Kristalova "Sounds of Dogs and Youth"

This event has ended.

A skilled and imaginative storyteller, Klara Kristalova draws inspiration from music, current events, and her daily surroundings to create figurative ceramic works that often mirror imagery from myths and old folk tales, and address themes surrounding oppression, anxiety and the sub-conscious. Exuding both an innocence and horror, Kristalova's uncanny sculptures portray adolescent girls and boys, often marked with exaggerated features or in the midst of transformation, and bring to mind memories of childhood fantasy, dreams and nightmares.

Through the medium of ceramic, described by Kristalova as having once been “seen as a low material, and not serious enough, especially when glazed,” the artist forms micro worlds with her sculptural figures and “relates to a sculpture tradition that has its roots several hundred years in the past. In this tradition the three dimensional artwork is seen as a means of three dimensionally ‘educating’ the viewer in a realm inhabited by both the viewer and the artwork simultaneously through their common physical relationship to the room,” as noted by art critic Anders Olofsson. For her exhibition at Lehmann Maupin, Kristalova will present new works in various mediums including ceramic and bronze in a setting envisioned to reflect the artist’s concept of an unsettling space. In her plans for the exhibition, Kristalova has crafted the environment to create a surreal atmosphere that places viewers in a flux between a dreamy and surreal place, and an ordinary space where conversations and interactions occur. To achieve this effect, the artist will focus on lighting and will furnish the gallery with second hand furniture found at local flea markets.

Klara Kristalova was born in 1967 in Czechoslovakia. Kristalova studied at the Konsthogskolan Royal University College of Fine Arts, Sweden, graduating in 1994.

[Image: Klara Kristalova "Growing Up" (2011) glazed porcelain and toy bricks 11.81 x 4.72 x 3.54 in.]

Media

Schedule

from October 27, 2011 to January 28, 2012

Opening Reception on 2011-10-27 from 18:00 to 20:00

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