I visited the Albright Knox Art Gallery to do this assignment. The title of the exhibit I looked at was The Alphabet, by artist Fletcher Benton. The exhibit theme was letters A-Z, and numbers as well created using painted steel. Benton's intention was to transform two dimensional fundementals of communication into sculptural art.
The art was exhibited in glass cases, a few sculptures were on pedestals, and there were large wall hangings with photos of larger scale sculptures in an outdoor setting. There was recessed lighting in the ceiling of the room, and sidelighting in each one of the cases, which were relatively dull, but cast shadows behind each figure. The walls of the room were a cream color, and the cases around the figures were wood grain. When walking through the space, you come to a case on your left, and a connected one to the front of you, creating an L shape. You walk to the right around the case, and see the large hanging panels on the wall. In the center, you turn and are surrounded by a case to three sides. The third section is opposite the first, and each section had two pedestals.
There were three to four sculptures in each showcase, and there seemed to be no order to the numbers and letters. Each one of the sculptures was set on a black base, and each case seemed to have a similar color palette. Some of the "letters" were more recognizable than others, and some were more intricate. The artworks were not framed, except by the wood around the cases themselves. At the bottom of the display window, there was a label for each work, and each label had the artists name, the collection name, and the letter that the sculpture represented.
I chose sculptures of letters C, T, and Y, each of which have a different approach to the structure of the letters.
The letter C is protruding from the basic square shape, which some of the other sculptures do not. This particular one is painted red, and has a red circle lying on a slant on the side, as if it had fallen out of the center of the C. The C itself appears thin and delicate, as if that was the impression of the letter C that the artist had. The C is connected to the corner of the folded square piece, and appears as if it could be pushed back into place in the larger circle, almost like a swinging door.
The T sculpture is a bit more complex, and looked at from a different angle. There is a square of metal, folded in half, creating two equal rectangle shapes, which are painted blue. On one side there is a circle cut out, and the other side has a circular shape sticking outward. Through the center of the square is the stem to the letter T. The top of the T sticks out perpendicular to the side of the square. It appears as if the T could be turned sideways, to fit into the side panel of the square. There is a cut out, creating a triangle at the top, and a small rectangle to the front of the T, where one of the sides of the top would fit. The T appears as if it is part of something, more included than the letter C, and the side with the T is heavier than the side with the open circle, perhaps implying a heaviness to the letter.
The Y was one of the more interesting letters, and tougher to identify. It was painted red, and placed on a black base, like all of the sculptures. Again, there was a folded square, creating an L shape when viewed from above. On the larger side, there was a circle cut out on the right side, but still connected on the left, and pushed backwards. On the smaller side, there was a small square cut out at the top, and pushed backwards. A small line at the bottom on that square, and on the side towards the fold were cut, and the square was pushed upwards, creating the top to the Y. The stem to the letter was down through the circle, much like the letter T. About half way through the circle, the stem of the Y switched from being a solid line, to a rippled, zig-zagged line.
No comments:
Post a Comment