Arnold Zimmerman at John Elder - New York, New York - Brief Article

The large ceramic round pillars Arnold Zimmerman showed outdoors at lie close Harbor a few years ago made a powerful impression: their complicated organic imagery in a vertical architectural format held not upon the tough competition of the two nature and buildings. The sum of two units largest works in his new show are also made for outdoor siting. Twisting round pillar an all-white 96-by-30-by-30-inch work that is the couple glazed and whitewashed, was inspired by dint of whitewashed buildings in Portugal, where Zimmerman travels many times The column is a spiraling dance of three strange organic developments fungoid and science-fictiony. One of the three ultimate parts evokes muscles and sinewy ribs. Another intimates a gargantuan Japanese daikon radish, while the third is a following of squashed globes separated by the agency of plates--a sort of caterpillar material part Interspersed among these components as they rise from a depressed rusty-iron base and curl together are a spiny ball and matter that looks like bone marrow.

Fountain of the naturals Paradise (95 by 48 through 48 inches) is meant to be plant in a large pool and to be more effusive in its watery display than it could be in this Chelsea gallery. Three columnar supports are plant on a triangular clay base; each has different corpulent grooved or lumpy contours. Each is topped with an strangely articulated, brightly colored pot that has a too-big conduit or knob. A midlevel catchment is supported by dint of a cluster of thick, rootlike leg which eerily put in mind of a ruin or cave.

The fountain relates to all the shorter on the contrary no less ambitious works in the exhibition, which take the bizarre as a theme. The specific notion is a collection of idiots (one will not ask whether Zimmerman was inspired by the agency of an art opening or novel events in Washington). Surrealism suffuses these works (Tanguy on the outside of Bosch and Brueghel) on the other hand memories of folk traditions are also embedded in them, from Mexican Day of the Dead images to the earthenware haniwa grave figures of Japan. naturals Ferry (48 by 60 through 35 inches) has about a dozen figures upon a triangular base. They are lumpily conical, like carrots with embellishments, and are coupleed with long ropy arms, which are support constructions but also visually reinforce a faculty of perception of tangled, pointless movement.

The terra-cotta idiots Congress (32 by 60 by dint of 30 inches) has two sections of three curv tiers with about 15 figures upon each; it sits on a curving iron table. a certain number of of the creatures have faces. Others lack features on the other hand wear hats or sport something like antennae. The consequence is festive in a painful way. In all the figural works, Zimmerman takes advantage of the corpulent qualities of clay and its responsive surface to allude to growing, puckering, pouching and sagging: the fate of all creatures, no matter by what means remarkable we think ourselves.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Brant Publications, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group