The show 'explores the wide ranging strategies used to depict notions of the universal'. In this show, selected artworks represent various attempts to 'diagrammatically map belief systems'. From the mathmatical geometries of Alfred Jensen to the hermetic boxes of Joseph Cornell, each artist employs a highly personal vocabulary to give form to the concept of existence within this in the universe. I also found strange illuminated books with indecipherable charts. There are archaic figurative etchings and fresh video installations, pottery and sculpture. A few of the best pieces were the ancient Himalayan diagrams such as 'Wheel of Life' borrowed from the Rubin Museum.
(Wheel of Life, 1700-1799). Some of the more detailed drawings are so heavily symbolic that I couldn't make myself try to untangle the images and instead tried to appreciate them for their physical beauty.
The show is up till Feb. 10th. It's cold on that block, so bring a scarf!
www.jamescohan.com
1 comment:
Isn't Jensen great? I saw some of his work a few years back, at Dia I think. I've actually been thinking about a "lexical aleatory generative matrix" with an "extensible drawing lexicon." Somewhere in the back of my brain I think he must be an inspiration.
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