Sculpture

Kayne Griffin Corcoran is pleased to present Sculpture. This exhibition includes significant sculptural work from artists spanning the 1960s to the present, featuring new and historical work from: Mary Corse, Sarah Crowner, Charles Harlan, Tatsuo Kawaguchi, David Lynch, Sam Moyer, Louise Nevelson, Beverly Pepper, Ken Price, Keith Sonnier, Mika Tajima, Jiro Takamatsu, Robert Therrien, Hank Willis Thomas, and Rosha Yaghmai.

Following the gallery’s last exhibition, which focused on the artist’s engagement with paint, Sculpture is a study of artwork with sculptural concerns. In the mid-1960s Robert Morris described sculpture as including space, light, and material qualities. Since the mid-1960s the category of sculpture has become infinitely malleable. While an exhibition such as Sculpture couldn’t possibly be a true survey, it aims to illuminate how artists tied closely to the gallery’s program think about the three dimensional object. 

The exhibition is a constellation of sculptural interventions. Blown glass is stretched and punctuated with jacuzzi nozzles to emphasize the breath that was used to shape the material. Tools are embedded within the material from which they are derived. A row-boat becomes unusable as it is covered in copper shingles. A bite is taken out of an American flag-adorned watermelon, reminding viewers that seemingly benign symbols are mired in complex histories that often contradict the American dream. Matisse-like cutouts are re-imagined as a beautiful wooden bench that beckons to be interacted with and touched. Historical landmarks of Los Angeles are reduced down to an architectural doorway. Hard stone and delicate canvas seamlessly merge sculpture and painting. 

While Sculpture links these artworks formally, each piece has a range of other focuses. Whether it be the political, the sensual, the use of light and space, or appropriation, the artist’s concern with the object and material permeate each work.