Glens Falls, New York
How might a survey of Surrealist luminaries be made to appear tame? Place it in juxtaposition with the work of Daniel Giordano, as curator Derin Tanyol has done at the Hyde Collection—a small but significant art museum located just five miles south of Lake George. In addition to exhibiting the trove of 20th-century art collectors Louis and Charlotte Hyde, the institution has, in recent years, invited living artists to engage the historic site with fresh perspectives. Against a backdrop of immaculate neoclassical architecture, and the concurrent group show “A Long Affair: Surrealism 1924 to Now,” Giordano doubles down on his unique vision with “Crystal Blue Persuasion” (on view through September 15, 2024), a particularly immersive exhibition featuring his characteristically heterogeneous sculptures plus a looping 69-minute soundscape.
Storied objects—including family heirlooms, food, taxidermy, ceramic, trash, human hair, and the work of other artists, among other idiosyncratic treasures—form the basis of Giordano’s work. He finds the majority of these components around his hometown of Newburgh, New York, on city sidewalks, along the banks of the Hudson River, at his effusively Italian-American family home, or hidden within the cacophonous hoard of odds and ends at his studio, Vicki Island. His sculptures, in their sensitive and often anthropomorphic arrangements, are greater than the sum of their many, many, many parts (Giordano’s material lists are comically lengthy, to the point of taking on a poetic quality).
But unlike his previous exhibitions, such as his 2023 stint at MASS MoCA, “Crystal Blue Persuasion” is distinctly experiential. Curtains separate the exhibitionfrom the rest of the museum, and Giordano’s realm, a self-contained room without windows or outlets, is dimly lit. The looping soundscape, My Fledgling I: In 12,966 Rotations, has a disorienting effect; a medley of cuss-strewn conversation, audio from beloved films, background noise recorded at Vicki Island, and more, it obscures the ambient noise of nearby galleries, thus reinforcing an atmosphere of seclusion. Finally, Giordano and the curatorial team have provided flashlights for viewers, evoking the experience of searching a cave—in this case, one populated by Giordano’s exquisite monstrosities.
Photo: McLaughlin Photography, Courtesy the artist
We are greeted by My Man of Endurance I (Harold) (2015–23), a bumbling but endearing statue that commemorates Giordano’s late uncle. Standing over seven feet tall, the sculpture features a bulbous gourd balanced atop a subtly snaking spine (as it happens, snake skin is one of Harold’s 31 constituent parts) punctuated by amorphous nodes of glistening goop. With its cocked head and wilting posture, the piece exemplifies Giordano’s ability to conjure full-bodied personalities via constructions only loosely suggestive of the human figure. His knack for animation is also at play in smaller works such as Study for Brother as Merlin’s Beard (2019–22) and Study for Brother as a Warlock (2016–22), which both come across as snuggle-able familiars despite being made of such charming materials as human hair and bald eagle excrement. In Giordano’s work, ignorance is bliss, but knowledge is usually worth the sacrifice.
The least organismal piece in the show is My Scorpio III (2015–24), a miniature truck rearing on its hind tires in a gesture of testosterone-jacked pomp; it sports a pair of antlers on the hood and, as with its siblings in the “My Scorpio” series, a colossal scorpion tail. Building off a go-cart that his mother won in a Walmart sweepstakes, Giordano has created one of his most ambitious works to date. The exterior is coated in burnt tennis ball felt (a trademark surface treatments that nods to his past as a competitive tennis player), the interior is upholstered with a shag rug of fluorescent blue, and the undercarriage is spangled with reflective glass, a small reward for those inquisitive enough to look. Take a gander at the epic list of over 100 materials for My Scorpio III—including Christmas ornaments, a horseshoe crab, and two paintings by Peter Eide—then try to locate each item. Many are concealed, but thanks to the power of suggestion, their energy emanates. Loudly and proudly displayed, however, is the set of Truck Nutz (a plastic scrotum, for those not privy) that dangles under a vanity plate reading “CANNOLIBOY,” a gaudy celebration of Giordano’s virility and Italian heritage.
While not always as overt as the aforementioned testicles, boyishness is central to Giordano’s practice—potty humor and all. During a studio visit to Vicki Island ahead of “Crystal Blue Persuasion,” he explained that My Scorpio III arose from his desire to create with the liberation and sincerity of his child self. He successfully imbues his sculptures at the Hyde with a juvenile spirit, to be sure, but the addition of the flashlights undoubtedly bolsters this achievement. Without them, the show is still arresting: the works emerge from shadow as if in a spatial chiaroscuro, and darkness mitigates the unrelenting intensity of colors and textures, causing the sculptures to flicker with mystique. But when armed with a handheld beam of light, the viewer has the option to collaborate in the experience of the exhibition, adopting the artist’s sense of curiosity, mischief, and play. The 11 sculptures on view ask to be explored (perhaps even befriended) rather than ogled from a safe distance. Details—confounding, disgusting, cheeky, awe-inspiring—are revealed by the flashlight as it simultaneously casts wicked shadows. Given this manner of attention, Giordano’s band of misfits are momentarily exalted from the hibernation of objecthood and empowered to dance across the walls, wildly, for all to see.
