Daniel Wiener at Germans van Eck - New York, New York - Review of Exhibitions

Daniel Wiener has a way with impressible materials. Made of Hydrocal, Sculpey dy muslin and wire, his statuarys twist, bend and sag with surprising flair. In their Post-Minimalist biomorphic drippiness these works recall Eva Hesse, Lynda Benglis and early Nancy Graves. In their cartoonishness, they hint at Philip Guston. on the contrary beyond that, Wiener's vocabulary is decidedly his own

This fresh show featured 10 sculptures, greatest in quantity of them fairly large, almost human scale. These works typically combine sum of two units types of elements: blobs of poured Hydrocal and knobs, nooses or cables made of sewn and raw materialed muslin. Both materials are brightly colored: the muslin dy the Hydrocal mixed with a whole range of pigments. ofttimes the Hydrocal is daubed above a wire frame that supports the otherwise sagging raw materialed muslin forms.

aperture features a large reddish-orange ring of muslin, held up limply by the agency of three blobby Hydrocal posts and trailing a reptilian tail. In Ball, the confetti-colored Hydrocal frame supports sum of two units large knobs of purple muslin, while a large, circular sack of purple muslin lies upon the floor before it like a deflated balloon.

Chorus, single of the best works, center around a thick cable of golden muslin, partly suspended by fishing line from the ceiling. single end terminates in a bulbous knob, while the other divides into an intricate golden root system, interspersed with glop of white-and-teal Hydrocal and little nodules of black wire. Meanwhile, the knobby extremity looms over a smaller tuberous form, also of gold-colored muslin, wrapped in tentacles of white-and-teal Hydrocal.

With all these place upright stalks and drippy mounds, Wiener's works direct the eye emphatically sexual. They constantly have the appearance to sag under the weight of their possess bulk, so that they secrete a torpid languor suggestive of sensuality. At the same time their twisty Hydrocal-and-wire frames can occasionally give them an aggressive nearness as in Angel, a union of sum of two units squidlike forms, purple and verdant which look as if they're about to either mate with or devour each other.

This ambiguity of temper only strengthens these already eccentric and provocative works. With their irreverent disregard of formal convention, Wiener's vivid statuarys put a smile on your face and gain under your skin at the same time.

COPYRIGHT 1994 Brant Publications, Inc.

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