Nils Folke Anderson

Sculpture
The art world, although huge, is a very small place.  Everyone seems to know each other.  Each opening is certainly a celebration of the artists work but also one big schoozfest. 

Last night we went the Robert Miller Gallery to see the opening for an exhibit of a group of artists titled Geometry as Image.  A variety of artists from young to old who use architecture, math, shapes, etc to create images on paper, canvas, with neon and as sculpture.

We were invited by our friends to see their son-in-laws work, Nils Folke Anderson.  His work is made up of polystyrene (styrofoam) built into large open squares interlocking with 9 pieces of the same size and scope.  It is quite cool.  I stood there with two people discussing the sculpture.  One guy was a serious collector from Florida and the other I am not sure about it.  We all decided it would be fantastic if he could take the structure and have it coated in titanium or steel because it would be a great outdoor sculpture.  Each angle is different.  You want to walk around and around and look.  The styrofoam has started to shed all over the floor and it is really a site specific piece.  Not sure he could do it but it would really take the structure to another level.

The other artist that I really liked was Kenneth Snelson who used steel and aluminum rods arranged geometrically so that the cables were able to hold the piece up with only three rods touching the floor.  It c creates the illusion that the piece is floating.  A piece of art but the mathematical equation behind the piece allows it to stand on solid ground. 

I have been seeing more and more shows that are curated from the galleries with a variety of artists involved.  It creates interesting conversation to see a cross section of artists concentrating on the same concepts but coming up with completely different bodies of work.