Bodyspace, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York
Bodyspace is the inaugural solo exhibition at Sean Kelly’s new location at 475 Tenth Avenue.
The exhibition expands the investigation into the polarizing effects of mass and energy through the installation of two new works in the gallery’s main exhibition space. Shore II, which comprises a 9.3-tonne monolithic iron block and a crouched body formed of smaller blocks positioned against it, explores the relationship of the body to architecture. The intense solidity of Shore II is countered by Signal, a sculpture from Gormley’s ‘Liners’ series, works he considers to be drawings in space. This straight 6-millimetre mild steel line becomes a twisting helix as it maps the inner space of a prone body, referencing the connective structures of electricity and implying a transmission that passes from body to city. In its reduced but rigorous geometry of 90-degree bends, the work both utilizes and escapes from the grid.
As Gormley states, ‘Both works on exhibit are catalysts for proprioceptive awareness, rendering the volumes of the new Sean Kelly gallery into a reflexive chamber in which the viewers’ passage through space and confrontation with mass is activated and registered.’ In their juxtaposition, Shore II and Signal illucidate the dynamic relationships created between the sculptures, the viewer and the exhibition space; it is particularly significant in this context, given that these works are the first to be shown in the gallery’s new location. Additional new sculptures by Gormley will be installed in the gallery’s project space on the first floor, as well as the gallery space on the lower level.
Timed to coincide with Bodyspace, Gormley’s Extend will be installed on the grounds of the British Ambassador’s residence in Washington DC, in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Art in Embassies program.
Photograph: Bodyspace, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, USA. Installation view. Photograph by Jason Wyche.