NYAB Event - Mia Fonssagrives-Solow “Robots”

Mia Fonssagrives-Solow “Robots”

Steven Kasher Gallery

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Kasher|Potamkin presents a series of never-before-exhibited works by sculptor Mia Fonssagrives-Solow in her first solo exhibition in New York. On view will be over twenty bronze and aluminum sculptures representing robots, fembots and aliens that Solow has created over a seven year period. Her career as a sculptor spans over fifty years, originally working with wood and more recently with metals.

Solow’s sculptures range in size from that of a young child to that of a small adult. These mechanistic creatures are seductive and fierce, familiar and eccentric. They include spiked warriors and voluptuous goddesses, howling beasts and inquisitive extraterrestrials, jovial children and protective guardians. They are characterized by humor, fear, bravery, frustration and affection. They draw on diverse sources: midcentury science fiction, Art Brut, Transformers, comic books, Metropolis, Picasso.

Solow forms her figures from found materials. Her Robot series originated from an urge to recycle everything. Solow found that the shapes of items such as salt bottles, laundry detergent boxes, baby formula cans, and eye droppers lent themselves to the creation of alien bodies. Solow says it can take months for a form to “grow on her correctly” before it is ultimately cast in aluminum or bronze.

As in the case of Solow’s past work, there is significance to these sculptures being shown in groups. Solow says, “To me, they are family. They are extensions of my entourage and reflect the way I perceive their behavior. Good days, bad days: sometimes I see someone as a powerful fembot, and at other times I want to turn them into a minotaur. But because they’re family, they always stick together.” Solow has been a devoted matriarch and recluse for most of her career. Long Connecticut winters compelled her to look to the people and materials around her for inspiration, resulting in her most personal body of work to date.

Mia Fonssagrives-Solow’s work has been exhibited at Charles Feingarten Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Elaine Benson Gallery, Water Mill, NY; and Eric Firestone Gallery, East Hampton, NY, among others. Her sculptural jewelry has been featured at Gagosian Gallery, New York, NY; Grey Area, Brooklyn, NY; and Foundation Maeght in Paris, among others. Her sculpture is widely collected both privately and publicly.