Washington, DC
Conner Contemporary
Clean-cut yet reclaimed, familiar yet odd, tectonic yet intimate—these were some of the contradictions at play in Joe Ovelman’s recent exhibition. Seemingly a far cry from earlier work, these sculptures tackle similar issues of sexual identity and societal norms, but in a more subversive and, ultimately, more tantalizing way. As the title “Coming Home” suggests, Ovelman’s re-entry from New York City into his native Philadelphia gave him space to rethink and recast his mode of expression. Street interventions, dead-pan phrases on post-it notes, and explicit, figurative images of political and gay activism have now become highly designed and finely crafted anthropomorphic objects that rouse the viewer’s body and imagination…see the entire review in the print version of June’s Sculpture magazine.
