143 Reade is a private gallery in a residential building in Tribeca.
Philippe Gronon, Cornelia Parker, Heather Rowe, Greg Shephard, and
Julia von Eichel
November 19, 2014 – February 22, 2015
By Appointment
Lucien Terras is pleased to present an exhibition of works by Philippe Gronon, Cornelia Parker, Heather Rowe, Greg Shephard and Julia von Eichel. This exhibition brings together a group of artists whose works explore the tension between surface and interiority, whether it be structural, functional or psychological.
Philippe Gronon’s seemingly non-subjective, full-scale gelatin silver prints of safe doors are taken with a large format camera. The black and white photographs are cut to the exact shape of the object, creating a trompe l’oeil effect. Through a process of observing and documenting, Gronon removes the intended functionality of his subject matter and places emphasis on the formal qualities of the safe doors. The artist’s precise, surgical approach to his work brings out the full pictorial potential of the photographed objects as once neglected and often overlooked details now lend themselves to the work’s aesthetic temperament.
In Cornelia Parker’s series of Bullet Drawings, the artist destabilizes lead bullets by melting and transforming them into wire grids. Each drawing uses a length of wire equivalent to the amount of lead contained in a .44 Magnum bullet. Parker mimics the act of drawing a line and transcends the production of bullets as ammunition. Their trajectories are trapped between two panes of glass, nullifying the bullets’ potential for violence and damage.
Heather Rowe’s assemblages deconstruct notions of interiority through her use of domestic materials such as wallpaper, decorative furnishings and shards of mirror. Her complex constructions and strategically placed mirrors subvert the viewer’s vanity by presenting a reflection of their fragmented selves. Rowe’s spatial re-framing allows for various perspectives and interpretations to enter into her framework, leaving viewers with a sense of ambiguity.
Greg Shephard presents three iterations of his signature Stay Timeless™ clocks, which consist of a convex mirrored surface and a single second hand. In these works, Shephard does away with the clock’s utility and instead displays that “the time is always now.” A larger installation of his work is on view at our office at 325 Broome Street.
Julia von Eichel presents a new series of wall constructions whose complex skeletal makeup are seamlessly covered with silk that has been gessoed and painted. Her polished surfaces remove any visible evidence of the artist’s making, leaving viewers with nothing more than an organic structural division that exists between the surface and its interior.
