Opening Reception: 19 April, 6 – 8 PM
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold… - William Butler Yeats
My goal is to present scenarios that capture the tipping point between coherence and chaos. You can see the plan, the intent to channel complex forces and ideas; you can also see the frayed edges, the strain on the system, the hopelessness of total control. – David Opdyke
David Opdyke grew up Schenectady, New York, once known as a beacon of American industry. “The City that Lights and Hauls the World” was home to Thomas Edison’s Machine Works, G.E. and ALCO. Coming of age in the 1970’s, Opdyke witnessed the rapid decline of manufacturing and nature’s subsequent takeover of a city’s abandoned architectural remains. Those images of transformation and decay permeate his work today.
Working with an obsessive attention to detail, Opdyke creates immersive art that both delights and disturbs. Hyperrealistic models, intricate sculptures of detritus and civilizations waste, and monuments to failed governmental policies comprise much of his work. Opdyke meticulously handcrafts each piece, creating intricate worlds of cryptic symbols, political metaphors, and freakish hybridity.
This exhibition presents new sculpture and drawing in extremes of scale and realism. Opdyke’s miniatures include Exhibit A-- a pseudo-scientific presentation of the domestic scraps of everyday life-- a childs teddy bear, tangled ipod headphones and a defalted soccer ball. On view are also larger sculptural installations, including Fixed Cycle-- a network of flowering plumbing pipes, riffing on Opdyke’s preoccupation with waste, infrastructure, and systems of transmission.
Each piece is a study in duality-- in one stroke, Opdyke condemns the bloated excess and self-importance of America’s political and material structures, while concurrently reveling in the absurdity and inescapability of human nature-- our innate drive to consume, expand, and exploit. The obsessive intricacy of the pieces both attracts and repels the viewer. Like a distorting carnival mirror, Opdyke’s work is a reflection of the vanity and grotesqueness of our times.
David Opdyke’s work has been previously exhibited at The Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY, The Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield, CT, The Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C., and numerous institutions across North America. His work has also been shown in Milan and the Netherlands.
For further information, please contact Heather Dell at (212) 243 8830 or by email atB Heather@brycewolkowitz.com.