Coolquitt
at
Lisa
Cooley,
NY
second souffle
2010
Andy Coolquitt’s abstract, linear sculptures made of joined pipes, broom handles, discarded lighters, beer bottles, light bulbs, straws, and crayons, are minimalist, ordered rearrangements of the raw world from which their components are sourced. Human-scaled and oddly anthropomorphic, Coolquitt’s work relates to the body in scale and form. Many times the works are functional, but Coolquitt is more interested in their dysfunction and their tenuous relationship with practicality.
We Care About You includes significant new sculptures that plumb Coolquitt’s alchemical bricolage. attainable excellence #2 is a lanky rod of transformed pipes that leans against the wall. A u-shaped pipe at the bottom forms two feet, and four light bulbs create an illuminated halo. The sculpture has a refined DIY aesthetic that channels its titular optimism.
Coolquitt shows these discrete sculptures alongside non-art objects, reinvestigating a theme in his practice of immersive environments. Found objects hang from the ceiling and commune with the finished works. The former are not “ready-mades”, which would both steep them in art history and claim them as Coolquitt’s own. Instead, he calls them “somebody mades” because “another human designed and constructed them” Also included are “inbetween objects” which are in the process of becoming – or resisting becoming – resolved pieces.
The result juxtaposes what Coolquitt terms “three levels of the life of the object.” Among these ruminations on objecthood, Coolquitt revisits a work from 1991.Titled a nice soft place for meeting people…, a plush shelf at elbow height encourages viewers to lean, converse, and interact. This shared experience embodies the connections between both people and materials that define Coolquitt’s oeuvre.go to Lisa Cooley
site here..
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