David Buckingham

Shut Up

2015

medium: painted aluminum, homasote, rubber Skylar Fein was born in Greenwich Village and raised in the Bronx. He has had many careers including teaching nonviolent resistance under the umbrella of the Quakers, working for a gay film festival in Seattle, stringing for The New York Times and as pre-med student at University of New Orleans where he moved one week before Hurricane Katrina hit. Fein is best known for his large-scale installations, including Remember the Upstairs Lounge, an exhibit during Prospect.1 Biennial that threw a spotlight on a little-known chapter of history. The 1973 arson fire at a gay bar in the French Quarter is still the deadliest attack against gay people on record. But here, the artist turns to something on a more intimate level. Fein says of the “Giant Metal Matchbooks” series… Why matchbooks? It reflects the artist’s love of pop culture, its vibrancy and also its accidental depth and poignancy. “A common object is a perfect meeting place.” That’s a Claes Oldenburg quote, and it’s still true — the most banal objects, aren’t. Obviously Oldenburg’s giant sculptures are forerunners, along with a dash of Warhol’s Brillo boxes and a side of “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.” The aluminum matchbooks open up, revealing — yes, giant wooden matches, with realistic (rubber) match heads. Do they light? Not exactly. But they burn. Skylar Fein was the recipient of a 2009 Joan Mitchell Foundation Award and his work is in several prominent collections including The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Brooklyn Museum, The Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, The Louisiana State Museum, The Birming-ham Museum of Art, the New Orleans Museum of Art, curators Dan Cameron and Bill Arning, and collectors Beth Rudin DeWoody, Lance Armstrong...

Skylar Fein was born in Greenwich Village and raised in the Bronx. He has had many careers including teaching nonviolent resistance under the umbrella of the Quakers, working for a g...

medium: reclaimed button-down, wire, floral tape, brass vase Born in 1971 in Cincinnati, Ohio, CARLTON SCOTT STURGILL received his Masters of Arts (Fine Art) from London’s Chelsea C...

medium: reclaimed button-down shirts on birch plywood panel Born in 1971 in Cincinnati, Ohio, CARLTON SCOTT STURGILL received his Masters of Arts (Fine Art) from London’s Chelsea Co...

medium: reclaimed button-down, wire, floral tape, ceramic urn Born in 1971 in Cincinnati, Ohio, CARLTON SCOTT STURGILL received his Masters of Arts (Fine Art) from London’s Chelsea ...

medium: reclaimed button-down shirts on birch plywood panel Born in 1971 in Cincinnati, Ohio, CARLTON SCOTT STURGILL received his Masters of Arts (Fine Art) from London’s Chelsea Co...

In the body of work for “Child’s Play” Roleke has created diminutive worlds in which toys tell the story of consumption, consumerism, war, and the misuse of power and religion. The m...

In the body of work for “Child’s Play” Roleke has created diminutive worlds in which toys tell the story of consumption, consumerism, war, and the misuse of power and religion. The m...

In the body of work for “Child’s Play” Roleke has created diminutive worlds in which toys tell the story of consumption, consumerism, war, and the misuse of power and religion. The m...

Margaret Roleke has created the sculpture “Pop,pop” specifically for the Las Gravitas exhibition at ODETTA. The title refers both to the fun and colorful hues of the piece that pop ...

In the body of work for “Child’s Play” Roleke has created diminutive worlds in which toys tell the story of consumption, consumerism, war, and the misuse of power and religion. The m...

Created with colored thumb tacks