The works featured in 'Radiohalo' – a new show by the lauded New York-based artist Michael Joo, open now at London's Blain|Southern – are concerned with process and intersection.
The former theme is most heavily related to Joo's embrace of silver nitrate as a volatile, expressive material; the latter to his consistent use of boundaries as a motif, whether physical – from the cracks that form the visual focus of his sculptural work to the lines drawn down the gallery walls – or symbolic, in his transmission of meaning and transference of data to canvas.
Take, for instance, defacto show centrepiece Prologue (Montclair Danby Vein Cut), 2014–2015; a steel-frame-mounted marble slab, marked by a long crack (itself visually held together by metal rivets) and treated with silver nitrate, it further explores Joo's interest in Cameron's Line, a subterranean swathe of marble that runs through the US as a tectonic boundary. The work, the gallery explains, acts a billboard in which a landscape of 'time, compression and process' is reflected in the strata, the refractive nature of the nitrate application creating a dialectic 'both spatial and temporal'.
‘The idea behind this work began with the idea of displacement,' explains Joo of the process of extracting marble from the earth in order to create the imposing piece. 'I wanted to see this landscape above and also get the essence of the material below.'
Elsewhere, a plethora of graphite-embedded sculpted crane's legs – collectively entitled DRWN, Carunculatus – have been dragged down the gallery walls, creating a wealth of delicate intersections that are both visually striking while simultaneously affording a kind of agency to the endangered birds, quite outside of human delineations of space.
A series of new 'caloric paintings', meanwhile, picks up the remit of works such as 1992's The Saltiness of Greatness, Joo calculating the calorie output required by a number of activities and transferring this numerical value to canvas, again via his beloved silver nitrate. The results are tactile and atmospheric, but also fascinating in their purpose of mundanely transferring data (and calling into question whether there's any significance in this action).
The former theme is most heavily related to Joo's embrace of silver nitrate as a volatile, expressive material; the latter to his consistent use of boundaries as a motif. Pictured: 'Radiohalo', installation view, 2016. Photography: Peter Mallet. Courtesy the artist and Blain|Southern
Defacto show centrepiece Prologue (Montclair Danby Vein Cut) explores Joo's interest in Cameron's Line, a subterranean swathe of marble that runs through the US as a tectonic boundary. Pictured: Prologue (Montclair Danby Vein Cut), 2014–2015. Courtesy the artist and Blain|Southern
Elsewhere, a plethora of graphite-embedded sculpted crane's legs have been dragged down the gallery walls, creating a wealth of delicate intersections that are both visually striking while simultaneously affording a kind of agency to the endangered birds. Pictured left: DRWN, Carunculatus (28), 2015. Right: DRWN, Carunculatus (Al 1), 2015. Photography: Peter Mallet. Courtesy the artist and Blain|Southern
A series of new 'caloric paintings' see Joo calculating the calorie output required by a number of activities, transferring this numerical value to canvas with silver nitrate and epoxy ink. Pictured left: Untitled, To (Drive), 2015–2016. Right: Untitled, To (Sleep), 2015–2016. Courtesy the artist and Blain|Southern
'Radiohalo' is on view until 9 April. Click above for a short video preview of the exhibition. Pictured: 'Radiohalo', installation view, 2016. Photography: Peter Mallet. Courtesy the artist and Blain|Southern
INFORMATION
'Michael Joo: Radiohalo' is on view until 9 April. For more information, visit Blain|Southern's website
ADDRESS
Blain|Southern
4 Hanover Square
London, W1S 1BP
-
A Trellick tower apartment’s contemporary makeoverA Trellick tower apartment gets a contemporary makeover by architecture studio Buchholzberlin and art consultant Peter Heimer
-
Last chance to see: Sharjah Biennial 15, ‘Thinking Historically in the Present’
Built on the vision of late curator Okwui Enwezor, the Sharjah Biennial 15: ‘Thinking Historically in the Present’ offers a critical reframing of postcolonial narratives through major new commissions
-
For London Gallery Weekend 2023, the mood is hardcore
With London Gallery Weekend 2023 almost upon us (2 – 4 June), here’s our list of must-see art exhibitions
-
The best London art exhibitions: a guide for this weekend
Your guide to the best London art exhibitions this weekend, as chosen by the Wallpaper* arts desk
-
The art fair personality test: what type of Frieze New York visitor are you?
Are you a selfie seeker or a champagne visualist? Take our art fair personality test to identify yourself at Frieze New York 2023 (17-21 May)
-
Sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro transforms Fendi’s Rome HQ into a theatre of myth and magic
Fendi’s Roman HQ sets the scene for ‘Il Grande Teatro delle Civiltà’ a major show by Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro, who has also created a one-off edition of the house’s iconic Peekaboo bag. Read more in the July 2023 Issue of Wallpaper*, on newsstands 8 June
-
Isaac Julien’s Tate retrospective: multi-screens, ‘sonic tapestries’ and moments of joy
Artist and filmmaker Isaac Julien’s Tate Britain retrospective ‘What Freedom Is to Me’ questions histories, explores activism, but is also full of joy and beauty
-
Superflex on building an underwater city for fish: ‘there are different rules down there’
Danish art collective Superflex discuss their ambitious Super Reef, an underwater urbanisation project aiming to restore more than 55 square kilometres of stone reef in Danish seas
-
Raffaele Salvoldi stacks hundreds of marble blocks for dazzling Milan installation
For a Milan Design Week 2023 installation, Italian artist Raffaele Salvoldi teams up with marble brand Salvatori to create architectural sculptures comprising hundreds of marble blocks
-
John Pawson unveils first-ever sculpture in Tokyo exhibition
At The Mass, Tokyo, British architect John Pawson stages his first solo exhibition in Japan, revealing his first sculpture and a new photography series
-
Got milk? New exhibition explores the dark side of dairy
‘Milk’, a new exhibition at the Wellcome Collection, London, explores the socio-political weight of milk through art and cultural artefacts
