Paris-SCOPE: Susan Graham

SUSAN GRAHAM
"SPIRAL LANDSCAPE"
MARCH 20, 2014 - MAY 23, 2014
OPENING: THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 6-8pm

Mixed Greens and Projective City are pleased to present an ambitious, site-specific installation by Susan Graham in which an entire wall of the gallery, from floor to ceiling, will be consumed by a giant mandala-like spiral made of porcelain sculptures and sugar objects affixed directly to the wall. There is a simultaneous sense of wonder and danger in the installation, palpable through the viewer’s proximity to such unprotected fragility.

For over a decade, Graham has used strategies of pattern and decoration to poetically depict the eternal struggle between nature and technology. In this installation, Graham will push scale and her materials to limits dictated by time and fragility. Her ability to transform delicate, evocative materials into powerful objects is showcased as she uses porcelain and sugar to sculpt wall-based electrical towers, satellite dishes, flora, and trees with a depth that is both precarious and inviting. Humorous yet foreboding, each vignette will build upon the next to create an overall vortex that leaves an indelible impression.

For this exhibition, Projective City was kind enough to give Graham a full week (and a cot) to install the work on site. The porcelain sculptures that provide the framework for the spiral were made in advance of the installation, but the sugar pieces will be constructed with site-specificity when Graham arrives at Projective City. Over the course of seven full days, Graham will live and breathe the installation as she attaches more sugar whilst residing in the gallery. The resulting installation will be maximally additive, pushing scale, playing with depth, and evoking multivalent narratives. The collection of sugar pieces (made of sugar and egg whites) will represent growth and creation in juxtaposition to the more static porcelain. When the show is over, the sugar will be destroyed while the porcelain towers will remain.

Susan Graham lives and works in New York City. Her solo exhibition venues include Lux Art Institute in Encinitas, CA; Schroeder Romero, NYC; Mixed Greens, NYC; Avram Gallery, Long Island University, Southampton, NY; Holly Solomon Gallery, Chelsea Hotel, NYC; and the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, MI. Group exhibition venues include Margaret Thatcher Projects, NYC; Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ; Fresno Metropolitan Museum, Fresno, CA; Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, WY; Neuberger Museum of Art, Yonkers, NY; Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY; Sherman Gallery at Boston University, Boston, MA; Leubsdorf Gallery at Hunter College, NYC; John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI; and the Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris, NYC; among many others. She has had residencies at prestigious venues including Smack Mellon and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Awards have included a Pollock-Krasner grant and two Fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts. Her work can be seen in public collections at Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Hessel Art Museum at Bard College. She is represented in New York by Schroeder Romero.

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TAGS: graham / paris-scope / susan / susangraham