Note: This exhibit is scheduled to close on 6/30/07.Walking into a really good sculpture show creates the sort of rush that makes art addictive. For me, the new exhibit of work by Christian Maychack, at Gregory Lind Gallery in San Francisco, was just that kind of experience. You might not guess this from the gloomy title, “A General Record of Things Breaking Down.”
Maychack has a penchant for undermining architecture and other stiff designs in ways that suggest structural failure, burning, melting, crystal growth, and—strangest of all—a takeover by the organic world. His work is often creepy, but in a deadpan way. Sometimes there are hints of sexual organs. There is always a strong formal sense and, increasingly, a refinement in the use of materials.
The work could be seen as an assault on Minimalism by means of Surrealism. Victory is not the goal: neither the rigidities of Minimalism nor the pushy visual tricks of Surrealism manage to triumph.
The work at the top is a kind of Rorschach blot (in 3D), sparked by the many meanings that viewers have ascribed to Maychack’s work. Below are other images from this don’t-miss exhibit.
The shiny part is metallic.
A Sol Lewitt grid sinks into the earth.
Detail of installation.
1 comment:
Maychack is an indeed an interesting talent. He's using ideas that are current (models, schematics), but he executes them with great skill, creating works with presence and personality — not the case with his lesser contemporaries.
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