Speaking with Australian sculptor Penny Harris about her current body of work opens an exciting conversation about archaeology, trans-oceanic travel, and interwoven stories. Harris is looking for new challenges, and so, she has been accumulating facts, ideas, and techniques.
Nothing Lasts Forever (Not Even Art): Ian McMahon
From mobile tractor-trailers to former churches, Ian McMahon’s site-specific work transforms alternative spaces. His sculptures are as much about the appreciation of form as they are about erasure. In other words, enjoy them while they last.
Fragmented Histories: Edward and Nancy Reddin Kienholz
Edward Kienholz once declared, “I can see the results of ideas in what is thrown away by a culture.” A compulsive bricoleur, he found most of his materials in thrift shops, dumps, and garbage cans and used them in ways that retained their original identity.
Robert Hudson: Sculpture Builder
In a studio piled with industrial scrap, busted-up cast iron plumbing fixtures, fragments of architectural decoration, and kitsch, Robert Hudson builds semi-abstract metal sculptures. He begins without drawings or models, makes a base, welds a support on top of it, and then adds elements by trial and error.
Competition in Common: Art Around New York
The gallery scene in New York, like the large metropolitan entity itself, consists of many diverse neighborhoods, each with its own constituents and concerns. Competitive but not cohesive, the New York art world remains a relatively small, even hermetic community with a common goal of showing and selling art of every type.
The Meat of Sculpture: Paul Thek
One can know quite a bit about American art after 1960 while knowing little or nothing about the work of Paul Thek. Indeed, one can visit many museums with important holdings in modern and contemporary art without chancing upon Thek’s work, and one can digest quite a body of literature on American art before stumbling
Little Seeds of Ideas: A Conversation with Bill Woodrow
As a member of the much-celebrated New British Sculpture group in the 1980s, Bill Woodrow captivated the art world with his cut-out ensembles of morphed objects. Since then, he has continually reinvented the possibilities of sculpture, breaking with his original approach to create works made from welded steel and cast bronze, materials that other sculptors
Playing with Perception: A Conversation with Daniel Arsham
Draped Figure Arms Out, 2013. Fiberglass and paint, 185 x 165 x 60 cm. Daniel Arsham’s work is full of the unexpected: solid surfaces appear to bend and buckle, high-tech equipment looks like it’s existed for thousands of years, and people seem to walk through walls.
Contradiction is My Logic: A Conversation with Alexandre Arrechea
Alexandre Arreachea, who was born in Cuba, worked as part of the well-known collaborative Los Carpinteros before embarking on a solo career in 2003. Now, he navigates between living in spain and exhibiting in biennials from Venice to Teipei and in museums from New York to Honolulu.
Material Splendor, A Conversation with El Anatsui
When I first interviewed El Anatsui, back in 2006, I was captivated by his use of found materials, form, and social context, but I consciously steered away from critical and art historical issues. To me, there was a more interesting story that acknowledged the heart, particularly in the haunting sculpture Visa Queue (1992).
