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Press Release
Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects is pleased to present a solo exhibition with new works by Jane South.
Jane South’s work has developed from a sophisticated conflation of drawing and sculpture. A basic element of her visual language is the most functional of all forms, the industrial container, a form which epitomizes material strength and usefulness. In her work, South pits this form against the fragility of all human made construction – her complex sculptures and installations are entirely made of cut and folded paper.
For her second exhibition at the gallery, the artist presents several large wall constructions, free-standing floor sculptures, and a site specific wall installation. Like a musical rhythm, her paper constructions animate the gallery space, contrasting the solid architecture of the walls against the fragility of her delicate materials. This rhythmical structure is reflected within each sculpture, particularly the large site specific wall construction, in which each tiny element enters into an intricately balanced relationship with the other elements in the work. Basic shapes such as cylinders, squares, and rectangles are precariously connected to more complex boxed grids, latticed arches, and horizontal ladders suspended from tiny paper hooks. Many of these geometric forms have been drawn and cut from an oddly angled perspective, thus slyly undermining the perspective of the entire construction. These ‘sculptures’ then cast complex shadows against the wall thereby conflating the previously achieved three-dimensionality back into the wall’s flatness. In the large wall works South weaves complex palettes of subtly corresponding color within the many sculptural components that make up each work so that they can also be described as densely multi-layered ‘paintings’.
Shifting back and forth between the flatness of drawing and the three-dimensionality of the artist’s skewed perspective, Jane South’s sculptural concoctions flirt with a quirky sense of humor that undermines our confidence in the space surrounding us.
Jane South received her MFA at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC. Her work has been shown at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT, the Weatherspoon Museum, Greensboro, MASS MOCA, North Adams, MA, the Drawing Center, NY, the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Massachusetts, at Spencer Brownstone Gallery in New York and at fa projects in London, England. Her work will be included in the upcoming ‘Odd Lots’ exhibition at White Columns in New York. She is the recipient of a Pollack Krasner Foundation Award and an award from the MASS MOCA Cultural Council. This is Jane South’s second exhibition at the gallery.
Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects is located at 5795 West Washington Blvd in Culver City, between Fairfax and La Cienega, within walking distance of the Blum & Poe Gallery. Gallery Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 12 – 6 pm and by appointment. Directions: Coming from downtown, take the 10 frwy west, exit at the Washington / Fairfax exit, turn left, it’s the second building on your right. 10 frwy coming from the west side, take the La Cienega exit, go south to Washington Blvd, turn left, the building is in the 3rd block on your left, next to the Dunn Edwards store.