~MARIE LORENZ / JACK HANLEY GALLERY, NY / NADA House 404B
last weekend !!!!
to see the very remarkable . . .
NADA House / Governors Island, 2021.
. . . up thru SUN AUG 1st.
MARIE LORENZ . . . presented by JACK HANLEY GALLERY, NY
NADA House 404 B
MARIE LORENZ . . with her presentation / which was so interestingly & vibrantly sited in a . . vintage kitchen !!
such a perfect tableau – for her faux archeological ‘objects’ / to be viewed & placed upon. as they are first & foremost 3-D ‘objects’ / that need to ‘sit’ on a surface.
and, also so interestingly – as connected to her themes:
found objects, fished out of the many water bodies surrounding us, and, mostly of the ‘thrown-out’ genre, and if most of our trash doesn’t come from the kitchen, and hence, home – then . . where ?
the old Governors Island military home kitchen . . also reverberates with questions of sustainability / unspoken questions of . . functionality, then, and now.
and… of course with regard to the future / recycling, repurposing / etc etc.
with the NADA houses themselves – now repurposed / as museum or gallery-like exhibit spaces – for this contemporary art presentation / and, really / so much more vibrant & sustainable than a big crowded tent, or the droning maze of a corporate show room.
note: the rigid, black (dying ?) coral, or fauna branch – atop the cabinet
note: the ominous but graceful ‘amphora’ peeking in at the left, sitting on the floor.
MARIE LORENZ . .
this great ole hunk of a piece, was hanging on vintage metal ‘pipes’ and seemed both a big hunk of steak and an . . an old vessel, a vase ? an amphora ?
having a great ‘visual’ conversation with both the interior kitchen space & . . what lay beyond the window.
MARE LORENZ, b. 1973, lives & works in NYC, and “roots her work in exploration and narrative. Since 2002 she has been traveling various waterways in boats she designs and builds, collecting the tidal debris that accumulates in the harbors”. – JACK HANLEY GALLERY
check out: MARIE LORENZ – JACK HANLEY GALLERY
MARIE LORENZ.
“An amphora, a funerary urn, plastic forks and water bottles, formed from cast beach plastic in a fossilized jumble. Future archeologists misunderstand the function, they misplace the objects and the century. Who can possibly remember what went where, when it all gets buried together, impossible combinations of form . . . and fancy.”
~JACK HANLEY GALLERY
a big giant’s teapot ?
more memory jar – than functional pouring vessel / it still seemed . . . steamy !!
braced as if with barnacles, it teemed with marine impulses.
while chiding us all – about – our natural waterway & water life . . . destruction.
MARIE LORENZ . . faux amphora
now, here’s the potential for a very big essay – on art fairs / unexpected presentation locations / historic venues / historic ‘visual’ influences re the actual object / and, the seamless incorporation of a far-out contemporary art object – into an historic kitchen – of all places !!
on an island / surrounded by water – that once functioned, as a – military fort.
dust-to-dust / the story gets retold, to keep the globe – spinning / or, not.
climate change. trash over-abundance. the treasures of the ancient oceans vs the blatant current destruction & overwhelmed natural marine life.
MARIE LORENZ . . .
but first, and foremost – it’s about these shapes !!
historic leaning – yet, full of new invention, new purpose – and, new storytelling.
I didn’t know Marie made objects like these. they blew me – away !!!!!
so handmade. so both about volume, and exterior accessory.
really, really remarkable.
ps: I asked Marie to tell me a little bit more about the fabrication of these amazing vessels:
“the sculptures are cast flotsam (beach plastic), the molds are made from clay, that is where they get their surface color and texture. The big black amphora, I cast out at the beach in the sand, by digging a pit & pressing objects into the sand. The casting material is hydrocal, so not fired, but I think they end up looking like clay / ceramic / fossil . . . because of the molding material”.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
artlovers flashback:
MARIE LORENZ, in her kitchen, in an early 2000 millennial / artist communal residence in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Archival Photo: NANCY SMITH, Nov 22, 2005
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