Atlanta Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia An endless fascination with language defines Ruth Laxson’s work. She combines mathematical equations, musical annotation, graphic symbols, and text to create a unique syntax. “Hip Young Owl,” her recent retrospective, traced the evolution of this language through sculptures, paintings, etchings, prints, artist books, and mail art spanning more than
Noe Aoki
AICHI PREFECTURE, JAPAN Toyota City Museum and Nagoya City Museum In the field of Japanese heavy metal sculpture, Noe Aoki stands out for her transformation of iron into a malleable, almost lightweight material. A 1983 graduate of Musashino Art University, outside of Tokyo, she has been included in numerous museum group shows and was awarded a Minister of Education New Artist Prize in 2000.
Evan Penny
TORONTO Art Gallery of Ontario Evan Penny’s sculptures, while bringing to mind the work of Duane Hanson and Ron Mueck, are presented in ways that confuse the viewer’s understanding. Penny, who explores the space between the two-dimensional and human perception, is concerned with how images in the digital age are increasingly modified and moving further away from reality.
Guy Zagursky
TEL AVIV Sommer Contemporary Art Gallery In past sculptural installations and performances, artist and musician Guy Zagursky has pursued the theme of power and its downfall. In a video documenting an arm-wrestling competition held at the 2006 Art Basel, for example, Zagursky is crowned World Champion of Art, after wrestling with and defeating artists, critics, and gallery owners.
Hijo Nam
NEW YORK Tenri Gallery Hijo Nam, a Korean-born artist living in the New York area, recently put on a strong show of sculptures and low reliefs animated by her Buddhist beliefs. Interestingly, much of the integrity of these works stems from their individual orientation, in which the inspiration changes from piece to piece rather than following a path of serial repetition.
“40 under 40: Craft Futures”
WASHINGTON, DC Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum When curator Nicholas R. Bell pondered how to celebrate the Renwick’s 40th anniversary, he opted for 40 artists under 40. While he admits that the conceit isn’t novel, the framework allowed him to survey, or sample, rather than chronologize.
Katie Caron
DENVER Hinterland Gallery Drosscapes, Katie Caron’s recent installation, pirates the language of natural history dioramas to depict an eerie and toxic landscape. The story it tells is unnerving because it is hopeful: nature doesn’t wither on contact with chemical contamination, but changes into something strange, a third landscape.
“Summer of Sculpture”
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND Wynyard Quarter In conjunction with the ISC symposium International Dialogue, Outdoor Sculpture 2001 Incorporated Society (New Zealand’s only sculptors’ society) initiated, curated, and presented “Summer of Sculpture.”
Arlene Shechet
RICHMOND Anderson Gallery Droll and crudely elegant, the nine clay sculptures in “Arlene Shechet: That Time” demonstrate the ubiquity of narrative. The works emerge from instinctual manipulations of clay that occur slowly in the studio through attentive play with gravity, juxtapositions of quirky shapes, and flirtations with contradiction and failure.
Costantino Nivola
EAST HAMPTON, NEW YORK The Drawing Room Trained as a mason in Sardinia, where he was born and raised, Costantino Nivola (1911–88) embraced carving and casting throughout his career. Though this background equipped him with a profound knowledge of traditional materials and techniques, he never shied away from exploring a wide range of resources.
