Cal Lane
Car Door
2007

Name: Car Door
Brand: Cal Lane
Price: 18000 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

In his essay “Ornament and Crime,” architect Adolf Loos helped usher in modernist trends with his infamous statement: “the evolution of culture marches with the elimination of ornament from useful objects.” Although he wrote this in the early 20th century, Modernism’s fear of “degenerate” embellishment and “feminine” excess has had long-reaching effects. But, New York-based artist Cal Lane has been able to turn such rhetoric on its head. In her multi-layered pieces, Lane covers objects normally associated with work and utility such as shovels, wheelbarrows, and car parts with intricate lace-like patterns through the use of an industrial blow torch. Like an illuminated manuscript, decoration overwhelms the surface. Ornamentation becomes one with the object, rendering it functionally useless yet aesthetically valued. With layers of juxtaposed binaries, Lane’s work is paradoxical: feminine and masculine associations play against each other; the techniques of industry and handicraft meet; delicate designs overtake durable materials; and positive and negative spaces create a beautiful play of light and shadow on the surrounding floor and walls. By merging the high art connotations of sculpture with the aesthetic of craft, Lane plays with gendered assumptions. She says: “I am a woman and that is a certain category that comes with a certain social history and stereotypes…I like to work with and against these social/cultural expectations.” By performing through such conventions, her work shows the possibilities of visual language when materials are manipulated in uncharacteristic ways. For example, in her installation “Filigree Car Bombing,” the viewer is confronted with the aftermath of an explosion. Car parts are torn, smashed and burnt, but they are also delicately pierced with intricate floral designs. The play of light through the warped shrapnel makes it appear more like draped fabric than metal. The gentleness of lace covers the violent incident, and the ‘beauty’ of design merges with the ‘ugliness’ of debris to create a contrast that disturbs the viewer’s expectations and requires a questioning of supposedly ‘automatic’ symbolic associations. In her rug pieces, Lane sifts dirt through lace tablecloths onto the floor to leave behind ephemeral creations that originated in memories of her grandmother decorating cakes by sifting icing sugar onto them through dollies. The delicacy of the designs is amplified by the fragility of the material. It could be blown away or smeared at any time. In performing “women’s work” writ large (and dirty), Lane reclaims the value of the “simple” act of beautification. In Lane’s work, ornament is no longer a crime; it is a testament to the possibilities of art.

Creator:

Cal Lane (1968 -, Canadian)

Creation Year:

2007

Dimensions:

Height: 51 in (129.54 cm)Width: 42 in (106.68 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)

Medium:

Metal

Movement & Style:

Contemporary

Period:

21st Century

Condition:

Gallery Location:

Montreal, CA

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU476123480

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Shop All Cal Lane

Cal Lane

Sculptor and metal artist Cal Lane has garnered international acclaim for transforming industrial steel I-beams, shovels, car hoods and dumpsters into lacy, decorative works of art. While her sculptures can be interpreted as a challenge to gender stereotypes — the transformation of hard, “masculine” steel into “feminine” lace filigree — Lane suggests her art reaches beyond that.

“I see steel as a metaphor for confrontation, a thing that represents the walls put up by the society I was born into,” she has said. “Steel feels like the perfect material to carve into, to create the contrasts and conflicts that I myself struggle with.”

Born in 1968 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Lane trained as a welder and was a hairdresser in her mother’s salon on Vancouver Island before she turned to build a career in art. She earned her BFA at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and attended the State University of New York, where she specialized in sculpture and earned her MFA.

As an artist, Lane became interested in exploring gender roles through Conceptual art. Although critics have compared her work to that of American minimalist sculptor Richard Serra, known for his spiral steel sculptures, Lane cuts into steel objects, creating ornate patterns that reference femininity in her figurative and abstract sculptures. This is demonstrated in works such as Pantie (2017), Veiled Hood #2 (2014) and Grace Invasion (2011).

In addition to her sculptures, Lane produced a series of wallpaper drawings in 2017, such as True Barring, Mind Your Bubble and Poking Holes in the Ocean, depicting military submarines on cloud patterns. The drawings explore the perception of submarines as phallic war objects in contrast to their innocent depictions in popular culture.

Lane’s sculptures and illustrations have been exhibited in numerous international shows throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, Belgium, France and the United Kingdom. Her works are also highly sought by collectors of Contemporary and abstract art.

On 1stDibs, discover a range of original Cal Lane sculptures, prints and drawings.