~NICK POE & SOPHIE STONE . . SAFE GALLERY / OPENING PIX !!
NICK POE / SOPHIE STONE
OPENED FRI MARCH 23, 2018
the show runs thru . . APRIL 22, 2018
SAFE GALLERY, 1004 METROPOLITAN AVE, BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN 11211
HRS: SAT & SUN / 12 – 6 PM
read more: SOPHIE STONE & NICK POE – SAFE GALLERY
SO . . .
I came for the ‘tapestries’, and left . . with a pencil-toned drawing of flowers in a vase, embroidered on my heart.
SOPHIE STONE . . .
I had admired her re-purposed, orange-toned, hand-worked ‘rug’, done so painterly . . it was a ‘tapestry’ !!
when I first caught sight of it, at the Safe Gallery booth at this year’s recent NADA.
Sophie Stone received her BFA from RISD / Rhode Island School of Design in 2009.
She lives & works in New York.
detail, SOPHIE STONE, ‘Piano Rug’.
SOPHIE STONE, ‘Piano Rug’, 2018.
Cotton, plastic, sisal, paint. 48 x 48 in.
re-storing / re-claiming . . old & worn-out household objects – that was a big topic at the ESSEX FLOWERS collective, last month.
that’s definitely the way to go. honoring both old & new skills / sustaining resources. bringing the depth of diverse cultural life, and a sense history home. and most importantly, giving a wonderful old, yet newly functional object . . another 100 years of joyfully spinning . . on the dance floor !!
all the while admiring . . the new vision, creative repairs & art-worthy embellishments – that brought new life.
and spirit.
SOPHIE STONE, ‘Untitled (Two Hammocks)’, 2017.
Cotton, sisal, wire, house paint, 78 x 120 in.
textile repair . . is so fascinating, beyond just the sustainable / renewed / skills / innovation aspect . . and, of course renewed . . function.
as someone who hand-stitches old quilts back to life, myself, I know . . part of the attraction, is just getting to understand, in a real hands-on way – how things were made. and thus, understanding how lives were lived.
. . through the materials, whether they be woven or patchwork, whole cloth, or industrial dye-jobs, and as well, the level of craftsmanship that went into each piece.
conceptually, as you work on these projects, you get a real sense of what. . random, and infinite mean.
random, in the random, worn-out & very varied ‘pieces’ . . that come your way / as if by fate.
infinite, with regard . . to the infinite creative possibilities / ceaseless innovation that goes onto making each one – first strong, according to it’s needs, and then . . lively . . according to your mood !!
the only given is this: it is worn-out / fix it.
detail, ‘Two Hammocks’ . . .
setting to work on a lowly, worn textile . . for a craftsman / artisan / artist . . is a total delight / a never-ending potential, for self-expression.
SOPHIE STONE, ‘Pee Stains’. 2018.
cotton, acrylic, plastic, sisal, ink. 131 x 77 in.
trying to hide a hole, or a stain – gives new meaning to the term: turn a lemon into . . lemonade !!
it’s such a creative . . jumping-off-point.
detail, ‘Pee Stains’.
it’s like a game / of real skill, and . . courage.
how to . . hide the damage, esp the bio-stains, lol.
detail, border, ‘Pee Stains’.
and, then once the piece is shored up, strengthened, and made . . presentable !!
it’s time for the real games – to begin.
the joy is – self-evident.
and very much – a part of the contemporary art / cutting edge – canon.
NICK POE, with his framed pencil drawings.
a native New Yorker, born & breed on Great Jones St., in Lower Manhattan.
“his work captures the subtlety of architectural elements and magnifies these details to compose new experiential occasions.” ~gallery
NICK POE, ‘Pool Table (with Flowers)’, 2018.
Gandy 8 foot pool table, custom printed billiard felt, pool balls, pool cues, and hanging lamp.
58.5 x 105 x 31 in.
pairing Sophie Stone’s colorfully jubilant work with Nick Poe’s tapped-down, grey-toned minimalism, was such an interesting contrast / concept.
each artist’s work was in effect, brought to ‘greater’ life . . by the contrast.
NICK POE . . was all about new things, new infrastructures, new functional / house-hold objects; most of which he designed & built himself, the bookshelf, the bar / he designed the custom felt on the pool table.
EXCEPT, for one very important non-variable: the classical / truly retro, catalog illustration of a still-life, the vase & flowers scene, which inspired and anchored his new house-hold ‘objects’.
though, here again, there was that still that sense of a random . . jumping-off-point / something seen, an illustration . . in an old publication . . made new, again.
just flipping . . pages, and zooming in.
an old illustration, and a very low-contrast one at that, in terms of tonality & subject matter . . . gets a second dance !!
and, a whole new . . lifetime of enchanting a new gen of viewers.
the work is also obviously about . . skills / craftsmanship.
and, vision.
detail, NICK POE, ‘Bookshelf (with Flowers)’, 2018.
latex on wood, painted frame with flatbed print on dibond, bouquet wrapping paper, white oak, wax.
70 x 96 x 12.5 in.
detail, NICK POE, ‘Bookshelf (with Flowers)’.
NICK POE, ‘Bar (with Bar Back)’, 2018.
latex on wood with tempered glass and mirror, Duralex drinking glasses,
41 x 39 x 24 in (bar) / 48 x 96 x 11 in. (bar back)
NICK POE, ‘Drawing (with Flowers)’, 1,2,3, 2018.
Painted frame, with pencil on paper, uv plexi, bouquet wrapping paper, white oak, wax.
21 x 24 x 1.25 in.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH