NYAB Event - Carol Salmanson and Ruth Hardinger “As Above/So Below”

Carol Salmanson and Ruth Hardinger “As Above/So Below”

Brian Morris Gallery

This event has ended.

Ruth Hardinger and Carol Salmanson are New York artists joined together in a show that both compares and contrasts their work. Although Hardinger’s concrete and cardboard works correspond to the qualities of gravity and weight, and Salmanson’s offerings have to do with light and color, both make use of industrial materials that are shaped by the artist’s hand. It becomes clear that that these two sculptors are engaging in a dialogue that reflects a shared purpose, the transformation of commonly used elements into art.

Originally a painter, Carol Salmanson sees her work as occupying the interstices between painting, sculpture, and technology, with harmonies waxing and waning in intensities that prove compelling. Her series, Gesture Drawings, is created by placing tiny LEDs on boards with thin wires connecting them. Salmanson looks to small boards to build these works, which are based on pencil drawings that are then pointed onto the planar surface of diffused Plexiglas with mirrors spaced behind them. There is an ethereal air to their construction, which emphasizes the brilliance now capable in such small illuminations.

In contrast, Ruth Hardinger’s solid cement sculptures have a dense center of gravity that returns concrete volumes earthward, in a demonstration of gravity and gravitas. Molding concrete pieces inside cardboard, Hardinger gets engrossing effects on the sculptures’ surfaces. As messengers, her series Envoys, have an engaging totemic presence. Cardboard is embedded; concrete is layered; rope is encased and drawn; all working together in concert to create various characters that act as personages and sentinels. These works are often layered, likely a reflection of the artist’s interest in underground’s living strata. Her sculptures are striking examples of art in which rough conditions of materials are elegantly transformed and substantiated in skillfully composed organic volumes.

“As Above/So Below” is an especially compelling exhibition because the works of these two artists are so different. The visual conversation between Hardinger and Salmanson results in an engaging exhibition that sparks ideas about materials, technologies, and, most importantly, intentions. Contrary to expectations, this unexpected union results in a cohesive show that will echo in the viewer’s
thoughts with a remarkable resonance.

-Jonathan Goodman

Media

• Painting
• Sculpture

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