At Wonzimer through May 3rd, artist Gary Brewer has curated an entirely unique group exhibition Vibrant Matter – Brilliant Fire. Featuring the lustrous, alien and exciting ceramic work of Brewer himself, the exhibition also includes artists Tim Hawkinson, Alicia Piller, Matthew Brandt, Iva Gueorguieva, Paul Paiement, Olivia Sears/Earl Flewellen, Cheyann Washington, Aline Mare, and Ernie Lee.
Thematically mixing notions of alchemy, the power of matter and materials such as earth-derived pigments, fire, and air, Brewer combines poetic meanings and mediums to create an inspiring mix of the strange and wonderful, and the ways in which artists use materials of all kinds to create their own original narrative.
In his own work, Brewer embraces the fire discovered by early humans to transform clay into a water-tight substance. But the exhibition features a wide range of fascinating additional materials.
Additionally, Brewer also integrates the idea of the artist’s mind as “nimble and shape shifting,” basing the exhibition’s themes on two separate and very different books, Jane Bennett’s Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things, and scientist Gerald Edelman’s Bright Air Brilliant Fire: On the Matter of the Mind. Casting these fascinating but esoteric books aside, the exhibition lives and dies on its art, which is always strong and at times surreal.
The sinuous forms of Washington’s work are created with natural pigment, but it is their line and terrific aliveness that most captivates. Her “In the Field the Basket Feels” is a stunning work. Along with Brewer’s seemingly interplanetary floral ceramics, there is his vibrant blue and copper hued painting positioned opposite Washington’s, creating a contrasting and compelling shift in color palette.
Mare’s work here is dark and intense, particularly her “Ghost in the Machine,” a rich dreamscape painted on aluminum.
Piller’s “Corridor of Time” is alluring and yet filled with a searching discontent, a mixed media work involving suede and freshwater pearl, agate, snakeskin and encased feathers among other materials.
Gueorguieva’s work is delicate and wild, her large scale tapestries a world unto themselves; while Lee’s highly textured sculptures seem to represent animal life morphing into existence.
Brandt’s mysteriously dark forests are a pure wow, as ominous as they are awesome, forming compelling works that require multiple contemplation.
Paiment’s wonderful “Hybrid paint-stallation” yellow bug is as witty as it is cool, while a whimsical windmill flows into the serious with a lovely poetic scroll from Sears and Flewellen. Hawkinson collected avocado skins for five years, cutting them into a variety of facial expressions to create a crazy cool sculptural grid.
In short, the strange and superb parts of this exhibition conjoin to make an inventive whole. So – you know what to do – go and see the show.
Wonzimer is located in Lincoln Heights at 341-B South Avenue 17.
- Genie Davis, photos by Genie Davis