Altered Geometry: Contemporary Sculpture from MMoCA’s Collection

Overview

Altered Geometry: Contemporary Sculpture from MMoCA’s Collection investigates the use of geometric forms in contemporary sculpture. The exhibition will be on view in MMoCA’s State Street Gallery.

The exhibition will survey works by a variety of artists, each of whom has appeared in an exhibition hosted by the museum. While the methods, preferred materials, and critical interests of each artist differ greatly, the geometric forms featured in their sculptures establish a unifying current amongst them. The artists have embraced the minimalist attitude that sculptural ideas may be best expressed with elementary shapes and forms, but they have adapted that language to their own distinct interests.

Among the sculptures included in the exhibition will be David Nash’s Cracking Box (1992). To create the piece, Nash cut several sections from the trunk of an oak tree, and rejoined them in the shape of a cube, fastened with the aid of several wooden pegs. As the wood dried, increased tension around the pegs caused cracks to occur in the box.

Five pieces from Sonja Clark’s The Wig Series (1998) will also be exhibited in the gallery. These delicately crafted pieces investigate the significance of symmetry and structure in hairstyles in African American culture.

A recent acquisition from Los Angeles-based artist Martin Kersels, Charm (Death Star) (2006), illustrates another approach to geometry in contemporary sculpture. The artist’s experimental, often humorous, sculptures were the subject of Commotion: Martin Kersels, an acclaimed exhibition organized by the museum in 1998. By reducing the epic space station to a decorative object, Kersels extends his humorous outlook to this newer work.