A Terrific New Installation at Suyama Space!

I was lucky enough to get in on the opening of Claudia Fitch's Floating Mechanism (nightshade) at Suyama Space (2324 2nd Ave.) last Friday. It's quite fantastic. Even several days later, I'm at a loss as to how to describe it. Here's the write-up from the Suyama site:

Floating Mechanism (nightshade) is a landscape tableau that hovers just above the gallery floor, richly patterned and dramatically punctuated by the cantilevered armature floating down from the adjacent wall. Scaled and placed to hold a dynamic relationship to the Space, the tableau considers and playfully re-invents the industrial, mechanical world of the gallery’s original use.

Yeah, OK, but there was also the very cool outer space aspect to it - like it was some important array that should be in geosynchronous orbit around the Earth. Rows and rows of identically-painted pieces of molded cardboard create the impression of eyes or eggs or breasts. It all depends on how you look at them, but the piece's futuristic minimalism is quite remarkable.

Here are many, many pictures:








The best thing about the piece is that despite its uniformity, it is constantly changing depending on the angle of view. It's a completely wonderful experience. This is only the second installation I've seen at Suyama. I thought that Grotesque Arabesque by Dan Corson couldn't be topped, but this is every bit as good. I highly recommend seeing it. Admission is free; just go to the gallery entrance during weekday business hours, ring the bell and they'll let you in. Now that's a great deal! It shows from now until April 23rd.

While taking a break from the crowd (there were quite a few people there), I stepped into the Suyama Peterson Deguchi gallery. Here are a few of their more interesting pieces:

I believe that's a Fokker d.VII.


Here's something by Scott Fife. It's pretty cool.


And this was just oddly juxtaposed.