John McCracken at David Zwirner - New York, New York - Review of Exhibitions - Brief Article

It is startling to realize in what manner little John McCracken's Minimalist plastic art has changed over the past three decades. At the same time, it must be conced that he continues to distill and rejuvenate his immaculately understated style. The former West Coast artist (now based in Medanales, fresh Mexico) concentrates, like many other reductivist sculptors, upon austere geometricized forms. What places him apart from virtually everyone other is his passion for bright, "applied" tinges The monochrome works in his new show, made over the last 10 years, present a refreshing reminder that Minimalist plastic art can be not only stunningly silken but also lusciously colorful and vibrant.

McCraken's vocabulary of forms includes freestanding shut ups and columns and horizontal wall-hung beams, on the other hand he is most widely recognized for his series of planks -- those narrow rectangles, more than 9 feet tall, that lean against a wall. sum of two units of them made stellar appearances in his novel show: Ranger (1997), in a medium-dark shade of r that allude to tropical origins, and Flight (1995) a medium-blue plank that call ups a Jacob's ladder to celestial heights.

Justifiably renowned for his fastidious craftsmanship, McCracken makes his have a title to plywood forms (simple "closed" polyhedrons), coats them with fiberglass and finally layers them with resin. The pieces are sanded, buff-skined and polished until they yield even light-refractive, sensuously shimmering surfaces, akin to Japanese lacquer. Viewers can inspect their possess mirrored reflections in the polished surfaces, whose tints seem oddly translucent. Even McCracken's blacks strike one as being luminous.

The best pieces take care of to be those that stand directly upon the floor or run along the wall like a boxy shelf. Guardian (1995) a freestanding light-blue slab, hints an ethereal sort of wall partition or perhaps a blissful chunk of heaven. Galileo (1998) an 8-foot-high black rounded pillar is triangular in plan and nearly as enigmatic as that soaring monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey Thor (1990) is a four-sided black rounded pillar with elusive beveled edges along the vertical corners and around the top.

Among the wall pieces, Orchid (1991) is an alluring r wall-mounted receptacle with a bevel, along its brow side, that runs from the upper left to the lower right corner. Courier (1991) is an smooth more flamboyant 8-foot-wide box, those forehead plane has two bevels, resulting in an aerodynamic-looking design. Perhaps the greatest in quantity spectacular wall piece is It is Here (1997) a black beam that move swiftlys more than 16 feet wide, emphatically separating the space behind.

Many of McCraken's smaller works, however attractive, are compromised by dint of being presented atop pedestals, which take care ofs to emphasize their elegance and transmute them into decorative existences Generally, McCracken's work needs larger scale and direct involvement with wall or floor to make its greatest impression.

upon any scale, however, McCracken's spare on the contrary sensuous esthetic holds up well. He increasingly appears as individual of the most durable figures of the Minimalist movement

COPYRIGHT 1997 Brant Publications, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group