“Dialogue: Eric Fertman and Nick Hornby” Exhibition
Maiden Lane Exhibition Space
This event has ended.
Time Equities Inc. Art-in-Buildings is pleased to announce the newest exhibition in the lobby of 125 Maiden Lane, Dialogue: Eric Fertman and Nick Hornby. Brooklyn-based Eric Fertman and London-based Nick Hornby’s sculptural practices reconsider traditional materials, explore the line between abstract and figurative language and take on a pillar of art history.
To develop The Present Is Just a Point, Hornby extruded Michelangelo’s David into a single point. Although he employs computer modeling to design his work, Hornby hand casts the resulting sculpture by traditional methods in a mixture of 150-micron ground Carrera marble dust and nautical resin. Carrera marble tethers Hornby’s work to Michelangelo and nautical resin, used for the hulls of super yachts, pulls the work into the present and evokes Hornby’s poetic title. The marble boulder Hornby nestled against the point supports the sculpture’s delicate balance while referring to the split tree trunk that hugs David’s right calf. David’s buttress is also a Renaissance emulation of an ancient Roman practice. Roman marble copies of ancient Greek bronzes required support because marble, though less expensive, cannot support weight as effectively as Bronze. The boulder grounds The Present Is Just a Point in an art historical lineage and is a winking reference to the canonization of an ancient Roman design flaw.
Fertman’s semi-abstract, hand-carved wooden sculptures are relatable in their slightly awkward human nature. Sally, a new work created specifically for this exhibition, actively brings Hornby’s work into conversation. Sally stands erect and balanced, recalling David’s iconic contrapposto stance. Horse hair falls down the front, softening the precise lines and furthering the temptation to anthropomorphize the abstract sculpture. This work also reveals Fertman’s desire to elevate mundane forms through thoughtful and clever combinations. Fertman deploys a stepped element in different sizes and alignments to create the base, core, and top of the sculpture. The elements, when flipped upside down or held on their side, cease to be rectangular steps; they morph into inverted triangles, alluding to the dynamic balancing act of The Present Is Just a Point. The humor imbued in all of Fertman’s work is not to be missed while mining the levels of references. Sally is a sculpture with presence and attitude.
Dialogue is a study in contrasts; black and white, marble and wood, hand carved and computer modeled. But when considered in depth, these works echo each other, creating a witty conversation between the works about the history of art, the evolution of materials and abstraction.
[Image on the left: Nick Hornby, The Present Is Just a Point, marble resin composite, 2013, courtesy Churner and Churner, NY. Image on the right: Eric Fertman, Sally, Oak, Ash, Plywood, Stain, Stainless steel, Horse hair, 2013, courtesy the artist and Susan Inglett Gallery, NY.]
Media
Schedule
from January 29, 2014 to February 28, 2014
Opening Reception on 2014-01-29 from 17:30 to 19:30