From Michelangelo’s David to Rodin’s The Thinker, some of the most iconic images in art history are works of sculpture.
And just as Michelangelo believed that the task of the sculptor is to discover the statue inside every block of stone, Rodin later widen the definition of the medium, saying “Sculpture is the art of the hole and the lump.”
Today, our ideas of sculpture are even broader—made clear by 20th century Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi, who famously declared: “Everything is sculpture.”
On September 28 and 29, artists and teachers, will gather at the University of Toledo Center for the Visual Arts to discuss how intention impacts artmaking during a two-day symposium hosted by Contemporary Art Toledo.
SculptureX: Igniting Change
To learn more about topics discussed at this conference, and catch a glimpse into the ever-changing look and definition of sculpture, visit these six area exhibitions:
1-2
Mel Chin
Following his solo show, All Over The Place, in New York, internationally-lauded contemporary artist Mel Chin will arrive in Toledo to present during SculptureX, host an installation, and show work during a solo exhibition. His interactive installation, Two Me— which invites the public to post on one of two identical seven-foot-tall pedestals, made with fully-accessible ramps, inscribed with the word “Me”—debuts on Wednesday, September 26 from 4-6pm on the Toledo Museum of Art’s Main Terrace. In addition, a selection of his drawings, mixed media, and video works will be on view through September 29 at the Dorothy Uber Bryan Gallery at Bowling Green State University School of Art for a solo show titled, From the Other Side.
3
Igniting Change
This group exhibition of diverse works by 22 artists explores concepts of social practice. This mixed showcase, curated by New York-based arts writer and critic Saul Ostrow, a SculptureX presenter, is on view through September 29 in the Dorothy Uber Bryan Gallery at Bowling Green State University School of Art.
4
Lineations
Artist, circus performer, and SculptureX presenter, Erin Garber-Pearson, who founded Birds Eye View Circus in 2012, encouraged audiences to see her performative work as more than entertainment. Using sculpture, video, and live tightwire performance, Garber-Pearson asks her audience to reflect on their everyday routine to discover how we, even when occupying casual public space, incorporate performance into our personal narrative and identity. Ask yourself how place and time impacts your ideas and actions during her solo exhibition, Lineations. The exhibit opens with a reception and performance at 6pm on Friday, September 29 and will be on view through October 13 at River House Arts in the Secor Building.
5
Soft Thrones: Sites of Power
Detroit, MI-based artist and SculptureX presenter Jova Lynne spent the month of January 2018 in her familial home of Kingston, Jamaica to work with queer identified-female spectrum Jamaicans and discuss the meaning of power. Through conversations and collaborations concerning the relationship between our bodies and our ability to express power, Lynne has returned with a series of dynamic photographs that intimately “create a new landscape of power.” Her exhibition, Soft Thrones: Sites of Power will be on view through October 27 at the University of Toledo Center for Visual Arts.
6
Oil + Water
In their work, photographers and SculptureX presenters Kate Levy and Shanna Merola document modern natural disasters. From the connections between the oil and gas industry, to the privatization of water, or the militarization of local police agencies, modern day natural disasters are not limited to environmental collapse— often, they are man made problems. See their work, which documents struggles in Detroit and Flint, Standing Rock, the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, New Orleans post-Katrina and the Bakken Shale fracking boom in North Dakota, during the duo-exhibition, Oil + Water, on view through October 27 at the Walter E Terhune Gallery at Owens Community College Center for Fine and Performing Arts.
SculptureX kicks off with a party in the historic Secor Hotel Ballroom (425 Jefferson Ave.), from 7-9pm on Friday, September 28.
$10 in advance, $12 at the door. For more information on SculptureX and the related exhibitions, visit catoledo.org.
