Roy McMakin: For May 3, 2008 through June 21, 2008 Opening: Saturday, May 3, 6:00�8:00 P.M.
523 West 24th Street
Matthew Marks is pleased to announce Roy McMakin: For, the next exhibition in his gallery at 523 West 24th Street. The exhibition will include recent sculptures and photographs, as well as a series of photographs from 1985-86. This will be Roy McMakin's second one-person exhibition at Matthew Marks Gallery.
The exhibition features McMakin�s characteristic, meticulously made objects, which operate on the threshold between sculpture and furniture, art and craft. In many of the new works, the unexpected combination of stylistically distinct objects suggests various kinds of personal relationships.
The exhibition includes a number of works that incorporate old pieces of found furniture. In some, McMakin pairs the original with a new trompe l�oeil version, and in others he joins the old with the new, marrying a stark white table of his own making to its found partner. In the process, he carves the new table to perfectly fit the ornate shape of the older table.
Also in the exhibition is a small red circular table made from painted wood and enamel, in which McMakin both monumentalizes a mundane piece of furniture and transforms it into a fetishistic object. In another, a green-painted wood chest of drawers gradually widens in an anthropomorphic shape and features three-dimensional keyholes as handles.
The two series of photographs in the exhibition seek, through different means, a formal investigation of places and objects. The first series, from 1985-86, of seemingly banal scenes have been delicately carved into and/or painted on to accentuate subtle geometries within the image. The second series, started in 2006, are comprised of individual views of a found object combined together to achieve an undistorted perspective.
Roy McMakin (born in 1956) lives and works in Seattle, WA. He first exhibited his work in 1980. He has had several one-person museum exhibitions, most recently at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and the Henry Art Gallery, Seattle.
Roy McMakin will remain on view through June 21st at 523 West 24th Street (between 10th & 11th Avenues). Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.
