Michael DeLucia: Eye of Providence
11 Rivington St and 195 Chrystie St, New York, NY, 10002
17 October - 17 November 2013
From the Press Release
Eye of Providence is the name of Michael DeLucia’s third solo exhibition at Eleven Rivington, which features new large-scale sculptures and works in relief. The show is an investigation into the inherent conflict of interests between DeLucia’s virtual medium and his physical materials; his work extends and subverts system based art practice by revealing data and rubrics in the context of contemporary technology and new media; the work recognizes the parameters and constrains for artists working today and DeLucia pointedly identifies the problems and limitations inherent in these conditions, while remaining acutely sensitive to his tools and materials.
A new direction from the artist is the choice of decorative countertop laminates as a host for his geometric subjects: faux marble, travertine, and hardwood finishes used in interior design call to mind minimalist aesthetics. The many specific and seemingly disparate references and suggestions of this particular material - from high-end contemporary kitchens to Stone Age cave walls - is not lost on the artist and aptly describes the relationship between image and object in the digital age. Capitalising on the familiarity and the artifice of these faux surfaces, the new work offers a phenomenological experience layered with desire and nostalgia and entangled with pseudo spiritual suggestion. Conjured with indiscriminate force, the default primitives (cubes, cylinders, and spheres) that are his subjects are ground out of the material with intense speed with the help of a CNC router that translates his model into cutting paths. The carved geometry on the faux (cave) walls pull back a composite laminate curtain to expose a window to a compressed reality within the wood substrate, revealing each form as scarred impressions. DeLucia’s work reclaims his subject from the latency of technology, as the sheets of plywood are assembled and presented as wall installations and sculpture that are a mirage of their conceptual underpinnings.
Michael DeLucia was born in 1978 in Rochester, NY and educated at the Royal College of Art, London and the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence. He currently lives & works in Brooklyn, New York. Solo exhibitions include Nathalie Obadia, Paris (2009, 2012) and Brussels (2011); and Luce, Turin (2011). Group shows include Socrates Sculpture Park, LIC; Halsey McKay, East Hampton; Andrea Rosen, NY; Derek Eller, NY; and Bureau, NY.
