The Dynamic Grid

Over the last several months, ACE Gallery in Beverly Hills had an exhibit of work by Erwin Redl, the artist who made the biggest splash at MOCA's Ecstasy: In and About Altered States exhibit. The solo show included not just his LED installations, but works on paper as well. Of course, it was the room filling work that grabs the viewer's attention, but the works on paper are probably even more essential in understanding how he arrives at his large scale works.

Erwin Redl's work is about the variations you can create with basic elements, and yet he makes it very organic rather than a rigid listing of the the permutations of these elements. For instance, Matrix XVI (White-Blue Gradient), 2007 uses a simple grid, like all of his works in some form, and two variables, white and blue LED's. He then uses either a blue or white for each LED in a single column and varies between the two from one column to the next so that no one column is exactly like the next. Yet, the variations from one column to the next are not just a simple change of a single LED, and thus the overall effect is a complex assemblage based on two simple units. As in each piece, Redl is concerned not only with the basic unit but the overall creation that the variation of those units create. In the case of Matrix XVI (White-Blue Gradient) there is a gradual change from blue to white as you move from left to right.The use of two colors in a grid pattern brings to mind binary code as well. In fact, Redl has his MFA in Computer Art. Just as binary code can create an enormous amount of variations based on a sequence of 1's and 0's, the number of variations created with the white and blue LED's could be expanded infinitesimally.

Redl also studied music composition. In the main space upstairs Redl installed a piece spanning two walls. Speed Shift, 2007 is not only a visual work, it is also an auditory work. Redl couples the two strips of white lights that move towards the corner of the room, ultimately converging into each other, with electronic tones playing at random. So, while the arrangement and movement of lights is highly regimented, the variation for this piece comes from the music.

So then how did Redl derive his LED installations from his works on paper? All of Redl's pieces are based on the same format: the grid. From this, Redl expands it into a three dimensional cube or wraps it in ways that transform an otherwise ordinary space into a dynamic room. Tilt, 2007 is one such piece that accomplishes this. The simplest of rooms changes dramatically with the three swooping strands of red LED's. This dynamism is found in the works on paper as well, despite the rigid structure of a grid. One of the most fascinating were a pair of paintings, Untitled (Solder Drawing - Positive), 2002 and Untitled (Solder Drawing - Negative), 2002. The positive version is a grid of solder splatterings and the negative presumably an impression of the positive done in water color. The random shapes created in the splattering of the solder create a vivacious composition out of the strict format. The amoeba-like forms of each splattering have bursts of rays, just as the LED lights have bursts rays, though not tangible like the solder.

Erwin Redl's show at ACE Gallery expanded upon his piece from the Ecstasy show. It should be interesting to see where he goes from here. Will he work in a new medium or manipulate the one he seems to have mastered so easily into new stunning creations? Let's hope he is able to create new and even more dynamic variations of the work that was shown in Beverly Hills over the last three months.

Ancient or Modern

I went to the Getty Villa this last weekend to see the new exhibit Greeks on the Black Sea. I enjoyed the exhibit and was even intrigued by one particular object, but it was the permanent collection that I grew to love while an employee there that captured my attention. I often tried to pick one object that was my absolute favorite, but could never pick just one. In fact, it was hard to pick just one favorite in each gallery. There are so many objects in the antiquities collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum of significance and beauty.

Most of what you see in the collection is merely fragments of the original piece. One piece that has always stood out to me is the Torso of Actaeon. This Roman sculptural remnant from the second century would have been dynamic even in its entirety. With only the torso remaining though, there is a heightened concentration on the anatomy of the abdomen and excessive folds of the drapery, the two standing in contrast. The subtle changes in surface of stone depicting the flesh and muscles of Actaeon's stomach are smooth and gradual. The drapery he wears is quite the opposite though. It swirls around his shoulders and creates deep crevices. The contrast of flesh and cloth with the asymmetry cause this piece to be more than just a torso fragment. It actually takes on quite a modern appearance, as do many of the other pieces.

The Villa is filled contradictions, especially now with the new architecture. The ancient Roman architecture of the Villa placed against a postmodern, stratified capsule is almost visual overload. Luckily, there is enough simplicity in form of the newest renovations on the exterior, that the original museum is not overshadowed. It's in the variation of materials (color, texture, size/shape) that the potential monotony is broken up. So whether on the grand scale of the entire site, or on the minute of a single piece, this museum of ancient art is a display of modernism.