Alois Kronschlaeger “Kind of Blue”

Cristin Tierney Gallery

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Cristin Tierney Gallery presents Kind of Blue, a temporary immersive installation by Alois Kronschlaeger in a former retail space below the gallery on the Lower East Side.

Viewed from the street, Kronschlaeger’s installation rises like a cresting blue swell inside of the space. Beneath the undulating blue forms is a 1500 square-foot gridded structure of 2 x 2-inch wooden planks, covered with almost 500 yards of blue Ultrasuede fabric. Kronschlaeger has carved into the framework, creating a topographical landscape that rises and falls as it slopes away from the entrance. The fabric has been carefully bunched and draped over the planks to create an enormous, continuous, rolling wave of vivid blue.

The artwork is designed to be immersive. Pathways in the grid allow visitors to walk around, on top of, and through the work. The interior structure of the piece is gradually divulged as one moves through it; what was soft and pliable on the exterior is revealed to be a highly structured, geometric form underneath.

Kind of Blue is named after the classic album by Miles Davis, which was conceived and recorded in New York City. It is a personal favorite of Kronschlaeger’s, who often listens to the album while working in his studio. The nature of Kronschlaeger’s installation echoes the central tenet of jazz music: rolling themes and variations occurring within a structured program. On the surface, the blue fabric appears loose and flowing, its exact shape organic and haphazard. But underneath it is in fact a very rigid structure—a support which allows the blue fabric to be “improvisational.”

The installation’s location on the Bowery is significant. As the oldest thoroughfare in Manhattan, parts of it were likely used thousands of years ago by animals crossing the island to find fresh water. With its undulating blue surface, Kind of Blue references both this search for water as well as the hills of Manhattan’s original geography.

Alois Kronschlaeger (b. 1966, Grieskirchen, Austria) creates site-specific installations and abstract sculptures that use geometry to explore environment, light, space, and time. His work has been exhibited at such international institutions and festivals as The Bruce Museum of Arts and Sciences, The Figge Art Museum, Yuan Art Museum, MOCA Tucson, MAC Lima, and Islamic Arts Festival, among others. He has completed multiple public installations and commissions in Mexico City, Grand Rapids, Sarasota, Lima, Tucson, and Miami. Kronschlaeger lives and works in Brooklyn and Mexico City.