Normal Dimensions at Half Gallery

By Jessica Hodin

Carol Bove, Woman, 2010, Image Courtesy of Half Gallery

Carol Bove, detail of Woman, 2010, Image Courtesy of Half Gallery

The show’s title is the first clue that its curator, Neville Wakefield, was considering the rather (echem) modest size of the Half Gallery when devising a theme for his show.  It helps that he could include two of Susan Collis’s pieces without really taking up any extra room. Collis’s works are minimalist, yet highly detailed.  “We’ll Be Together” (2009) consists of a row of three screws, made in her studio from found objects that are drilled into the wall, leaving a chewed-up, sloppy fray around each one.  Directly opposite is “Dear Ghost” (2010), 4 platinum engraved staples punched into the wall to create a square area that frames an empty space, which feels like something is missing from that spot on the wall. Screws and staples represent an intimate dimension of space, forcing the viewer to peer-in close to the wall to discover these works.

Another dimensional manipulation is illustrated in the 400 pound block of white soap that artist, and Wakefield’s girlfriend, Olympia Scarry crafted from fat, lye, saliva, and water, entitled “Saliva” (2010).  Referring to the fragility of women and placed in the middle of the gallery, Scarry’s work compelled gallery-goers to squeeze around its perimeter, shrinking the dimensions of the gallery to somewhere even less than “half.”  Scarry’s soap and Carol Bove’s lone peacock feather “Woman” (2010) instilled a delicate atmosphere at the gallery opening where people had to tiptoe around the objects, perhaps an unsolicited effect, but noteworthy nevertheless because their use of feminine characteristics in their work, as well as Collis’ use of the male-dominated style of minimalism, reaffirms Wakefield’s concept of dimensions.

Xaviera Simmons “Whatever the Cost, I’ll Pay in Full” (2010) is a large format Xerox of a white owl, wings sprawled, with its prey in tow, which explores the more mysterious dimensions of time and reality. While we examine the incredibly beautiful images she creates, the medium of Xerox seems to question its authenticity and imply Simmons’ interest in finding the natural beauty in the every day, a theme that has bounced around the art world this summer in shows such as “Natural Renditions” at Marlborough and “Swell” at Metro Pictures, Friedrich Petzel and Nyehaus.

To see a show with only six works allows us to ruminate on their meaning and their deeper significance as a group of objects.  Other lower east side galleries, such as Y gallery (which is the basement storage room of a Bowery shop), and Rachel Uffner Gallery, have risen to this challenge by creating meaningful shows in a limited amount of space. 

Normal Dimensions will run through August 13th at the Half Gallery, 208 Forsyth Street, between East Houston and Stanton.