Sandra Gering Gallery presented Jane Simpson's ice sculpture Somewhere (between freezing and melting) there lies passion II at its former Chelsea location. More an event than an exhibition, the sculpture melted in the gallery over the course of the installation.
In its freshly created form, the ice sculpture resembled Group 1 (concourse) 1951, a marble sculpture by Barbara Hepworth. As the piece melts, the corners and carving marks will soften, giving way to a smoother surface and more flowing curves, accentuated by the glow of the melting ice. While evolving in this unpredictable manner, the figures sculpted by Hepworth will, in effect, come to life. Interaction between individual figures will change; their behavior will be capricious. Simpson intended the sculpture to be infused with all of the complexities and anxieties that arise at social occasions. The artist also speaks of wanting to highlight the sensuous aspects of Hepworth's forms, a quality that would not have been emphasized or embraced during the time in which the sculpture was created.
British artist, Jane Simpson, is known for her elegant sculptures that transform the familiar, bringing a magical quality to quotidian objects. Teacups, a balustrade, a sewing machine are created in unexpected materials such as rubber and ice. Simpson's series of sculptural still lifes of rubber objects clustered together are simultaneously three-dimensional Morandi paintings and intimate, somewhat tense, family portraits.
This was Jane Simpson's first project with Sandra Gering Gallery.
