Heather Gaudio Fine Art is pleased to present Structuring Elements featuring works by Patrik Grijalvo, Jeremy Holmes and Berndnaut Smilde. The public is invited to attend an opening reception for the artists on Thursday, June 26th, 5:30-7:30pm and the exhibition will remain on view through August 9th.
The show brings together two and three-dimensional explorations of space, shape and form that are executed in three distinct visual vernaculars. Patrik Grijalvo imaginatively re-contextualizes existing architectural structures into collaged representations he dubs as “photo objects.” Jeremy Holmes makes wall-mounted and free-standing sculptures out of wood, bending the rigid material into unexpected curvilinear forms. Berndnaut Smilde explores temporality and the ephemeral in inventive photographs of building interiors and exteriors. All three artists invite the viewer to think about the possibilities of form and space and how they articulate the world around us. The way in which the materials are transformed gives way to unpredictable juxtapositions and contradictions that play with our perception.
About the Artists:
With the use of an analog Hasselbach camera, Spanish artist Patrik Grijalvo captures images of contemporary buildings created by celebrated architects. These structures are typically museums and other cultural institutions, known for their daring designs and technological breakthroughs. Grijalvo prints the images digitally, selecting architectural elements of interest which he then cuts and reconfigures into three-dimensional collages. The results are a strikingly eloquent interplay of planes and forms of subverted constructions, which, while ambiguous, offer enough recognizable characteristics to bring a certain sense of familiarity. Grijalvo has exhibited mostly in Europe, and HGFA is pleased to hold his second exhibition in the United States. His works are in many notable institutional, corporate and private collections in the U.S. and abroad. The artist lives and works in Bilbao, Spain.
American artist Jeremy Holmes launched his successful career after creating his seminal thesis work in art school over a decade ago. Using several 12-feet-long planks of wood, which he joined using scarf seams, Holmes created a long ribbon which he coiled, bent and turned to fill an entire interior space. The artist cleverly transformed the rigid material into a malleable one by steaming and soaking the wooden planks into the desired forms. Since then, the artist has pushed the inherent boundaries of different species of wood, such as ash, walnut and cherry, altering the rigorous bands into evocative, limber-looking sculptures that can be free-standing or wall-mounted. For this exhibition, Holmes combines colors and different species of wood within one sculpture as a way to enhance our perceptions of the contoured forms in space. The artist has exhibited widely in North America and in Europe, and this will be his third exhibition at HGFA. His works are in many private and corporate collections in the U.S. and abroad. Holmes lives and works in upstate New York.
Born in the Netherlands, where he currently lives and works, Berndnaut Smilde uses photography, sculpture and installations to challenge our notions of space and time. The exhibition will feature works from the stunning Nimbus series for which the artist is known. Made in site-specific locations, these images are Smilde’s exploration of the ephemeral and the impermanent. Smilde creates clouds in building exteriors and interiors, capturing the image with his lens before the vaporous forms dissolve into thin air. There is a surreal theatricality to the cloud floating in an unlikely space, set against a structured or ornate architectural backdrop devoid of any life form. These highly sought-after images contrast and juxtapose the robust and the fragile in a very imaginative and poetic way. Smilde holds an MA from the Frank Mohr Institute in Groningen and has exhibited widely in Europe and the United States. His works are in multiple important collections including the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; UMC Utrecht, the Netherlands; Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, the Netherlands; Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague, the Netherlands; and Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, among others. HGFA wishes to thank Ronchini Gallery, London, for the inclusion of Smilde’s works in this exhibition.
