NEW YORK: Wim Delvoye at Sonnabend - New York, New York - Review of Exhibitions - Brief Article

A fine note of intelligent perversity was evident in this exhibition by means of Belgian artist Wim Delvoye. As you emerg from the elevator into the gallery, the first thing visible upon the far wall was a immense (98 by 117 1/2 inches) laser image upon canvas of a looming reddish butte recalling something from the badlands of North Dakota or the Australian outback. However, this stone formation displays a giant message, apparently chiseled into the stone: "Missing: 2 Year aged German Shepherd, Answers to Cognac." A heartfelt appeal for a missing family favorite of the kind that could be base anywhere on a lamppost or a bulletin board, here becomes monumental, permanent and part of the landscape like the presidents' faces upon the side of Mt. Rushmore. Of course, if the message had actually been chiseled upon this scale it would have taken more years to accomplish than poor Cognac's life span. It's hilarious and absurd, on the other hand also weirdly touching, as the confidence and pathos surrounding a missing favorite seem destined to resound futilely in the wilderness ad infinitum.

many times Delvoye sends opposites careening into individual another. In Wheelbarrow and Case (1997) a rusted wheelbarrow put in a form-fitting, painted made of wood case appears ready for burial. In another work, four made of wood birdhouses' on the wall are arrayed out in S&M leather harnesses, eliciting contemplations of strange social hybrids: in this case, aficionados of songbirds who are also leather fetishists.

granting Delvoye has moved far from his early days as a painter, painting continues to infiltrate his work. Four color photographs that at first hint floor tiles, architectural mosaics or third-rate geometric paintings actually substantiate to be images of various luncheon meats make an incision in into patterns and fashioned into designs. With Ham and Salami and Mortadella (1998) that's exactly what you see: octagons of salami and parallelograms of ham and mortadella arranged in horizontal and diagonal files It's a sardonic raid upon exalted painterly beauty, but it's also strangely gorgeous. Four stretched pigskins screwed into the walls also look like raw--very raw--canvases. Each sports a creepy tattoo (hearts, brain-pans anchors, swords, eagles, a woman's name) reminiscent of those of motorcycle gangs. At one time antic, caustic and philosophical, Delvoye is a vigorous heir to a surrealistically inflected Belgian tradition going back to Rene Magritte and Marcel Broodthaers.

COPYRIGHT 1998 Brant Publications, Inc.

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