Musing Metallic

New York, NY -- The Curator Gallery is excited to present Musing Metallic, a group exhibition showcasing eight artists who work in metal or metallic materials, curated by Elizabeth K. Garvey and running from June 4 - July 11.
Featuring Christopher Adams, Joan Grubin, Marietta Hoferer, J. Ivcevich, Tamiko Kawata, Michael Kukla, Susan Schwalb and Carroll Todd, the exhibition includes metalpoint, sculpture and jewelry, as well as innovative mixed media celebrating the glimmer and gleam of metal.
“Each artist has a distinctive approach to installation, process, media and perception,” says Garvey. “A smooth, polished surface indicates the presence of the human hand, while a rusted or matte finish hails chance, the organic and nature’s influence.”
While Musing Metallic explores a wide range of metal work, the show shines a spotlight on metalpoint just as a major exhibition on the medium, Drawing in Silver and Gold: Leonardo to Jasper Johns, is on view at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC (May 3 - July 26) and later at the British Museum, London (September 10 - December 6). The work of Susan Schwalb, who has championed metalpoint in contemporary art since 1975, is included in the exhibition. Schwalb celebrates beauty and harmony with clean, straight lines drawn over a panel or paper prepared with gesso. A single work can take months to create as Schwalb allows time for the metals to reach their full patina.

Christopher Adams explores biological concepts including speciation, convergence and mimicry as he creates ceramic works of organic abstraction. His wall-mounted sculptures, featuring shiny or matte metallic finishes, suggest a variety of creatures, but no one specific species.

Joan Grubin creates installations, sculptures and small wall works from pigment, paper, reflected color, cast shadows and negative space. The resulting work is equally a product of the artist’s hand and of the environment in which it is displayed. Metallic finishes in Grubin’s art underline the interrelatedness of object, light and environment by creating shiny fragments of reflective negative space.

Marietta Hoferer builds drawings of tape and metalpoint on archival paper. Hoferer applies a graphite or silverpoint grid to the paper, then cuts tape into pieces, arranging them into patterns over the grid. She works with different brands of tape, each with its own characteristics of color, transparency and reflectivity.

J. Ivcevich seeks beauty in overlooked and mundane settings. His photographs of New York City subway posters, with rips and tears revealing the layers of previous posters, offer ready-made collages and his paintings on mirrored surfaces literally incorporate the viewer into the imagery.

Tamiko Kawata utilizes everyday, sometimes discarded objects in her work. Impressed by the variety of safety pins in a tailor supply shop, Kawata adopted the safety pin as her readymade building block, creating intricate works on canvas, sculpture and jewelry.

Michael Kukla creates worlds of organic cellular forms in sculpture, as well as in metalpoint over gesso on paper. Kukla alternates between light or dark tinted gesso to affect spatial relationships and alter viewers’ perceptions.

Carroll Todd constructs highly finished sculptures from sheets of metal, working completely by hand. Influenced by modern master Constantin Brancusi, Todd has created a bench specifically for Musing Metallic.

The exploration of metal continues in The Curator Gallery’s back gallery with a jewelry trunk show featuring artists Gogo Ferguson, Cassandra King and Wendy Black-Nasta.

Elizabeth K. Garvey is the co-founder and owner of Garvey Simon Art Access. She has been a fine art dealer and advisor in New York City for over 20 years and leverages her professional relationships with galleries, auction houses, private dealers and artists to offer clients a relaxed entry into the often intimidating visage of the New York art world. She is a member of ArtTable, and a founding member of the New York chapter of the Association of Women Art Dealers.

The Curator Gallery is a fine art gallery in Chelsea that collaborates with notable guest curators for each exhibition. Founded and underwritten by Ann S. Moore, the retired Chairman and CEO of Time Inc., the gallery’s mission is to bring exposure to hardworking artists, as well as to educate and expand the pool of engaged, serious collectors.

For more information, please contact Kris Connell at The Curator Gallery, [email protected]