G Fine Art
is pleased to present the work of
GRAHAM CALDWELL
in the show
Anatomies
February 17 – March 31, 2007
Opening reception, Saturday, February 17th 6:30 – 8:30pm
Caldwell’s new work continues to transcend the utilitarian nature of glass. He embraces the material, with all of its manufactured connotations and spins it to become something unique. Light bulbs that have bent and grown huge, punching bags mirrored and frozen in action, thin blue glass in the form of a tree branch or a piece of coral.
This show feels like an adventure; a journey, maybe through the natural history hall, encountering creatures in dioramas from different worlds. They appear strangely out of their element, but allude to danger or elegance, their teeth and claws remaining sharp, their bodies still implying movement. Caldwell’s work is sly, attractive, and simultaneously sinister. He continues with these pieces to straddle the lines between humor and potential disaster, linearity and sensual form, intricacy and forthrightness.
In one work, thin tubes of amber glass extend from the wall and enter back in, creating a downward arch. In a row they look like handles to grab, or ribs delicately poised in the air. Another piece resembles bubbles being blown into the world, extending and hovering out from the wall. Mirror-like, the surface provides a sort of fun-house reflection. Multiple pieces extend in different directions, capturing a movement like they have just been punched or touched, like an anemone’s fingers swaying in the currents. Blithely this work seems like technology mimicking nature, a kind of gross enlargement.
Caldwell, like a scientist, investigates the intricacy of his material, its display and the natural world. It’s as if he is holding up a prism that might reflect a rainbow–but instead, reflects excitement, fear and beauty. The anatomies he refers to are ribs, teeth, anemones, forests, fungi, fingers, and bodies. Anatomy is the study of structure, its dissection, analysis and minute examination. Caldwell is immersed in this study–exploring the anatomy of the viewer, the anatomy of glass, and the anatomy of natural things.
G Fine Art
1515 14th St. NW suite 200
Washington DC 20005
T.202-462-1601
Gallery hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 11am – 6pm
www.gfineartdc.com
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