Element
Gereon Krebber & Carlos Sandoval de Leon

Jul 7th – Aug 6th 2017

Cindy Rucker Gallery is pleased to present Element featuring works by Cologne-based artist Gereon Krebber and New York-based artist Carlos Sandoval de Leon.

The word element has a myriad of meanings. It can connote a component that cannot be separated into further parts, a constituent of a set, any of the four substances (air, earth, fire, water) believed to compose the physical universe, or the state or sphere natural to a person or thing. Both artists in this exhibition utilize sculptural materiality as an extension of the work, not simply a means to portray an idea.

Gereon Krebber (b. 1973, Germany) is an artist that gleefully thumbs his nose at traditional sculptural materials, opting instead for such unconventional media that ranges from gelatin and toothpaste to packing tape and roofing tar. The end result is something that lands far from the Pygmalian idea of falling in love with one’s creation. Instead, Krebber seeks to make the viewer uncomfortable, pushing his materials to their breaking point. Proxie VII (2017) is a piece composed of wood that has been scorched almost to the point of ash, it’s warbled black surface referencing Shou Shogi Ban, the Japanese technique of charring wood without the satisfyingly smooth surface. Xenos (K-Curls III) is a piece composed of cement, roof varnish and ceramic that has been fired at the highest point before collapse, its shape seemingly vulnerable but stubbornly hefty.

Carlos Sandoval de Leon (b. 1975, Mexico) comments on place and society by repurposing elements from that place. His video projection Plan A documents the purchase, the utilization and return of 15 plywood boards from a Brooklyn Home Depot. Two dancers elegantly install the boards on the sidewalk of the home improvement store while passersby walk around and through the piece as unwitting participants. His Untitled piece utilizes dirt, stones and grass excavated from his home in Crown Heights, it’s sifted contents presented as strata on the gallery floor. Earth as medium almost always references the 70s Land Art movement and its aesthetic relationship to minimalism and its reduction to surface and materials, but here it extends to hierarchy of place, people and the relationships within that space. Both Plan A and Untitled aim to serve as a meditation on various economic, social, and environmental cycles. Through daily rituals, choreographies, and movement, this work draws close attention to the complex politics of location, time, and rhythm.