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Exhibition
Brick & Mortar: Bay Area sculptural abstracts
Original works by Stephen Day, David O. Johnson,
Christopher Loomis, and Florian Roeper
September 26 - November 4
Artists' Reception, Thursday, October 4, 6-8 pm
Image David O. Johnson, Chair I, neon
Pro Arts presents Brick & Mortar, an exhibition consisting of
four Bay Area artists working with abstract sculpture. The exhibition
focuses on industrial materials, such as concrete, wood, neon, and medium
density fiberboard (MDF). The artists each emphasize the crafting of the
object as the focus of their art.
Brick & Mortar – Bay Area sculptural abstracts is a presentation
of work by local emerging, mid-career, and established artists steeped
in the craft and fabrication heritage of Oakland and the Bay Area. The
artists are furniture makers, industrial designers, and fabricators working
to further the strong tradition of Bay Area sculptural abstraction.
Stephen Day is an Oakland-based industrial designer, fabricator,
and sculptor. His featured work consists of illuminated wall sculptures.
His minimalist design draws on the repetition of the rectangular form.
In so doing his work references many of the inherent industrial qualities
of his chosen materials – concrete, wood, metal, and polymers. Inspired
by modern architecture, his work intentionally blurs the lines between
craft, design, and sculpture.
Working with neon and concrete, David O. Johnson also uses ubiquitous
industrial and commercial materials for the exhibition. His use of neon
particularly references the conflicted states of promise, hypocrisy, consumerism
and isolation in American civilization. His hanging neon sculpture, Chair
I, creates a bright red outline of an easy chair from a series of
fragile glass tubes suspended from the ceiling.
Christopher Loomis’ Untitled, a site specific installation
of medium density fiberboard panels, works with the architecture of the
gallery to create a sculpture born from a repeating pattern of interchangeable
pieces. Color, and an absurdist dedication to mass produced efficiency,
allows the piece to represent a nearly infinite variety of systems and
constellations.
As a furniture designer and sculptor, Florian Roeper has a keen
understanding of the way wood occupies space. His tall wooden sculptures
are a delicate balance between raw and refined, evoking both the built
environments of the Bay Area, and the central place that the natural world
has in the larger mythology of California .
Download the press release below:
 Brick
& Mortar
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