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Anders Ruhwald - One is never so close to change as when life seems unbearable even in the smallest and most everyday things
Nancy Ford - Project Space
April 11 - May 10, 2008
Opening Reception: Friday, April 11, 2008, 6-9pm
Gallery Hours: Saturday, 11a.m - 5 p.m. or by appointment
CHICAGO, IL - rowlandcontemporary is pleased to present One is never so close to change as when life seems unbearable even in the smallest and most everyday things, a solo exhibition by London based artist Anders Ruhwald. Chicago artist Nancy Ford presents an installation in the Project Space. This exhibition will run from April 11 - May 10, 2008.
Anders Ruhwald
For Ruhwald the engagement of architectural space is paramount for each of his exhibitions. With One is never so close… he continues his investigation of forms from everyday life with both objects and in this case, mirrors. By creating an ongoing dialogue amongst his exhibitions, Ruhwald seeks to continue a discussion of form typologies that bear a relationship to early modernism.
The objects themselves are black glazed ceramic and are rendered devoid of details. This shadow effect, both in color and pure objectness, becomes something we recognize at once, but can't quite place. It is as if Ruhwald has tried to reconstruct everyday objects purely from memory. Embellishments, including candles, tassels and an irregular use of brass add to his early modernist affinity. The objects position within the gallery serves to enhance or interrupt the visitor's navigation of the space.
Ruhwald further engages the architecture of the space with strategically placed mirrors. The mirrors, which are actually mosaic, function similar to the objects in that we are reminded of ourselves, but through the mosaic, we are broken apart; the mosaic creates an effect that resembles a pixilation, repeating the idea of shadow.
The mirrors allow us to catch a glimpse of ourselves, the objects or those around us. For this exhibition, Ruhwald indeed renders us a shadow of our former selves.
Anders Ruhwald was born in Denmark and currently resides in London. He received his MA from The Royal College of Art in London. Recent exhibitions include M.Y. Art Prospects, NY, Drud and Koppe Gallery, Denmark, and Galleri IngerMolin, Stockholm. He recently received the Sotheby Award from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. In 2002 he received The Biennial Prize from the Danish Craft and Design Biennial. Ruhwald has also received grants from the Annie and Otto Detlefs Foundation and the Danish Art Foundation.
Nancy Ford
In the project space, Nancy Ford examines the personal distillation of sound fragments that surround us in our daily lives. What could sound look like? Ford renders these "audio landscapes" as concrete objects translated into singular abstracted fragments or symbols. Sometimes they are sculptural objects made of painted paper mache which have distinctly defined formal qualities. Other times they are fragments of paper or fabric that are pieced together, alluding to such diverse entities as cartography, Shaker drawings and Native American culture.
However, all of the work references a range of moods, sounds and moments reinterpreted from the surrounding natural and audio landscapes. The abstractions are not simple mutations of land based forms, but hover in the middle ground between sight and sound. "Sounds are an invisible action, and I'm interested in the translation of the action in the concrete object."
Nancy Ford received her BFA from Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, MD, and her MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL. Ford's work has been included in exhibitions at Midway Contemporary Art (St. Paul, MN), Artists Space (New York, NY), and Keith Talent Gallery (London, England).
For more information, please contact the or call 312 421 6275.
