Article By: Angela Bray
The Suffolk University Art Gallery at NESAD currently exhibits an wide range contemporary art.
Construction, which opened last Friday, is an exhibition of new sculpture by six Boston area artists: Laura Evans, Peter Evonuk, Arthur Henderson, Ellen Rich, Isabel Riley, and Jeff Smith. The artwork displays the studio process with construction techniques unique to each artist, as each piece is composed of raw materials chosen by the creator.
“Using materials to test and explore the boundary between art and craft or the overlap between painting and sculpture closes the gap between everyday experience and contemporary art,” said gallery director and curator James Hull. “Choices of how to put things together, what media to use or where to get materials reveal much about the artistic strategies at play.”
The variety of materials includes cinder block, marble block, fabric, and polystyrene. Isabel Riley’s “Interior Ticking” is constructed of wood, fabric, paint, and hardware. Riley has an eye for color and texture, as she selects materials from hardware stores; her work is a complex visual to viewers. Arthur Henderson’s “Stack” is a build of polystyrene, paint, epoxy, and steel. His “Dodo” is made of polystyrene, paint, steel, and concrete. His sculptures are appealing to the eye, the viewer recognizing of everyday objects. Peter Evonuk uses Vermont Danby marble for his “Marble Block,” which aims to simulate and appraise contemporary art modes.
The other artists’ use of material varies – Jeff Smith, for example, uses salvaged wood, casters and polyurethane, caulk, plywood, and fasteners. Smith is a fan of movement, as he playfully chooses to construct almost everything on wheels. Cardboard tube and paper pulp is used by Laura Evans, who visually redirects tubular material. Collecting materials from a dump, Ellen Rich chooses wood, foam rubber, and acrylic paint to create artistic pieces. “The transparency of the construction techniques underpins the connection between an otherwise visually divergent group,” said Hull, describing the work to reflect the artists’ creative ingenuity.
The artists will discuss their work at NESAD on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 1:30 P.M. and Construction is open to the public until Nov. 21.
