Light sculptures by Ivan Navarro

Don't miss the current show of Chilean-born, Brooklyn-based artist, Ivan Navarro, currently up at Paul Kasmin gallery.

Navarro is known for his sculptures in which he uses light bulbs or fluorescent or neon light paired with mirrors and text.  His more well-known works include wall-mounted sculptures which appear to be glass doorways that look as if you could walk deep into a dark tunnel by his clever positioning of reflective and one-way mirrors. 

In the new exhibition, the pieces consist of wall-hanging and floor sculptures.  The works are various shapes of the footprints of well-known, architecturally important buildings, primarily those that are innovative in engineering, throughout the world.  Some of the buildings that are represented are the Flatiron Building, the Empire State building, the Sears Tower, the Towers in Dubai, and the Center in Hong Kong.  You can discuss these works in terms of the race for superiority in design and technology but also in economic growth coupled with the idea of globalization.  Unlike his earlier sculptures, the neon intentionally flickers on and off in his interpretation of the Sears Tower, further animating the sculptures and playing with viewers perspective of the depth and the surface of the work.  Many of the works have text etched into the mirrors such as "Surrender", "Shelter", "Decay", "Sway", "Burden" and "Want".  Its unclear if these words are descriptive or demanding, but it adds another layer of meaning and interaction with the sculptures. 

By far the most powerful works in the exhibition are the floor sculptures that are imprints of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.  Without text, they are quiet, sober, humbling, vertiginous and sad.  Leaning over these floor sculptures, you feel that you are going to fall into a large hole in the floor. 

Link to gallery exhibition


 

P.S.  The Paul Kasmin booth at this weekend's Armory Show, the biggest annual art fair held in NYC every March, was a site-specific sculpture by Ivan Navarro.  It was a constructed tall neon fence around the booth.  It was both beautiful (I know I use that word too much!) and also humorous.  It was a bold statement for a gallery to make, especially because so many galleries depend on the various art fairs held throughout the world throughout the year to make a substantial amount of their annual income and also rely on the fairs to draw new followers to their artists and their gallery.  Here was an impenetrable fence around the booth that contained nothing else.  I have attached some first-hand photos below.

Although these sculptures are imbued with meaning, for the most part, they are playful and just play cool to interact with!