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James Gilbert

A Historic Point of Interest and other Landmarks

James Gilbert

A Historic Point of Interest and other Landmarks

SOLO EXHIBITION

JANUARY 26⏤FEBRUARY 26, 2016

PYO GALLERY LA

PYO Gallery LA is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Los Angeles based artist, James Gilbert.

 

A  Historic Point of Interest and other Landmarks features a  large-scale  site-specific  work  that  will consume the gallery space, and a collection of small sculptures address current intentional destructive actions  that destroy  architecturally  important and  significant cultural heritage  sites. Gilbert writes  of  his work – “Natural disasters and accidents are inevitable but it is human aggression where we   experience the loss of art, architecture and historical sites that are neither designed nor intends to be destroyed. To deliberately eradicate identity is to eradicate art and objects of symbolic meaning. We    have witnessed systematic destruction of heritage as an attempt to destroy cultural diversity through religious or ideological reasoning, political agenda, activism  or cultural curation. The sledgehammer,  bullet, bomb, water or earthquake perform the destruction - I wanted to reimagine an object that is simultaneously a symbol and protectant. When building barricades for  fortification  in  front  of  and around culturally significant objects and architecture they  then  become  the  new  identity  and description for the object they are protecting. Through the  use  of common  art making  materials: canvas, marble and  wood, they  are  reinterpreted  as  devices  to  defend, deter or lessen  destruction but also form a new autonomous work to be visited, viewed and contemplated.”

 

Gilbert’s work involves the labor-intensive process of hand sewing and hand-dyeing hundreds of visually dense canvas objects that weigh upon or support fragile wood structures that remind us of relief carvings, elaborately designed doors, buttresses, architectural joints and bridges. The site- specific work will be built directly into the architecture of intentionally destroyed gallery walls while also spanning across the gallery. The smaller works will be more delicate architectural gestures utilizing wood, marble and thick layers of poured paint.

 

James Gilbert’s has been awarded international grants to produce work in the United States, Denmark and Columbia and residencies at Centraltrak: The University of Texas, Dallas and Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha. His work has been exhibited museums, galleries and universities in The United States, China, South Korea, Colombia, Denmark and has been reviewed in such publications as ArtForum, Artillery, Hyperallergic and Sculpture Magazine.

SELECTED WORKS

INSTALLATION VIEWS

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James Gilbert  제임스 길버트

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