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Kris Kuksi, New Works.

Two new sculptures by artist Kris Kuksi, available at Joshua Liner Gallery.

In his practice, Kris Kuksi juxtaposes Baroque and Rococo design principles with the rigidity of the industrial landscape and classical architecture, to explore religion, culture, war, industry, and death. To create these intricate assemblages, Kuksi sources model kits, jewelry remnants, figurines, and kitsch statuary from all over the world, meticulously arranging them into complex, multilayered compositions. The artist often alters these mass-produced objects by fusing them together to make anachronistic figures. It is not uncommon to discover mechanized humans or Roman Generals wearing gas masks. After securing all the pieces, Kuksi unifies the hundreds of disparate components together by adding layers of paint to achieve a weathered patina. When encountering Kuksi’s frieze-like wall sculptures from a distance, the work resembles architectural ornamentation from the Belle Époque, characterized by decorative frills and ornamental beauty. On closer inspection, however, individual narratives emerge from each sprawling work, revealing what the artist describes as “historical narratives, biblical subjects, animal worship, architecture, symbolic views on commerce and development, as well as human psychology and behavior.” It is the combination of Kuksi’s elegant forms with macabre themes which allows his work to be at once peaceful and violent, beautiful and grotesque. Kuksi’s micro and macro dimensions unfold into a boundless world of infinite narratives, carrying the familiarity of history, with elements collected from discordant paths and different moments in time. The extreme density and multiplicity in the artist’s assemblages not only reward close looking; it makes the viewer just as much a part of the artwork as the characters who inhabit these fantastic and otherworldly landscapes.

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Michael Reeder’s “Brick & Mortar” at Hashimoto Contemporary.

Currently virtually on view at Hashimoto Contemporary in San Francisco, California is artist Michael Reeder’s sold out exhibition, “Brick & Mortar.”

Grappling with the shelter in place orders in early March, Michael Reeder places his bold, graphic characters and motifs into a mirrored world of isolation. The incorporation of masonry bricks throughout the new works serves as a constant reminder of separation - psychologically, visually and physically. “The wall embodies a confined environment, but also represent solid barriers that the figures were either hiding behind, trapped behind, or trying to break through.”

Like the drifting plumes of smoke depicted in the works, the pervasive nature of the pandemic seeped into every aspect of the exhibition. In addition to the conceptual and visual representations of seclusion, more intimate, portable materials are used throughout the show. Moving from the studio to his home, Reeder has distilled his material choices to acrylic and gouache on canvas and paper - relying on a brush and his hand.

“Brick & Mortar” is a capsule of the lived historical moment from Michael Reeder’s perspective. He reminds us of the fragility of life and mortality, but also the vibrancy that can be found in that acknowledgment.

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More often than not, I can relate to this. So I made it into a patch. If you haven't watched Daria yet, I highly recommend it.