Smack Mellon is pleased to present multidisciplinary artist ann/drew gayle’s second solo exhibition in NYC. just a moment comprises gayle’s recent series of flat ceramic sculptures, formed using logics of simple mathematics and patterning techniques employed with Polymer clay. The artist draws from a wide array of inspiration including candy making, M.C. Escher, wallpaper and textile designs, and Conway’s Game of Life–an interactive game based on a mathematical equation that determines cellular automation and the potential for livelihood.
The works’ candy-colored palettes are crafted from porcelain and mason pigments. They appear as fragile slices with intricate patterns, replete with cracks in the surface allowing light to penetrate through. The cracks–understood as unsupported transitions between time and space–are left intentionally by the artist as testimony of their journey. Undergirding the artist’s practice is the scientific principle that the human eye can see only a small sliver of the electromagnetic scale. Like the flat polygonal characters in Edwin Abbott’s Flatland (1884), our consensus reality is primarily constructed by what we can perceive. Formally and materially, gayle draws a parallel between their sculptural practice and the limits of human experience of time and space. They offer us single points in time, solidified into porcelain, as momentary evidence of the larger body from which they were extracted.
Bio:
ann/drew gayle is a Brooklyn based multidisciplinary artist whose work is natal to liminal and unnamed spaces. They hope their work can function as a provocation to peak experiences that can only be found in ambiguity and the blurring of lines, social relations, definitions, and roles. Perhaps temporary utopias can exist in a world in desperate need of light.
Image: ann/drew gayle, just a moment, 2023. Image courtesy of Smack Mellon. Photo by Etienne Frossard.
The artist would like to express gratitude to the following people for all they have done to help with the realization of this work. They also want to thank the team at Pioneer Works, and the Residency Program in particular, for allowing them the space, time, and resources to produce the work.
Thank you: Bianca Abdi-Boragi, Kerry Brothers, Anny Chen, Vivian Chiu, Min Choi, Ruth Dana, Christina Daniels, Alicia Dean, Noah D’Orazio, Kristen Fetchtel, Gabriel Florenz, Roxanne Gayle, Tahnee Godot, Monty J, Paul Ramirez Jonas, Dave Kim, Paul Krauss, Carlos Metta, Alex Mctigue, Sana Musasama, Nicholas Oh, Jonathan Ojekunle, Adam Puryear, Seth Orion Schwaiger, Janine Sopp, Melissa Tolve, Alix Vernet, Walker Waugh, and Dustin Yellin. Special thanks to Anny Chen and Seth Orion Schwaiger for their help in production.
This exhibition is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, New York City Council Member Lincoln Restler, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and with generous support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Robert Lehman Foundation, Select Equity Group Foundation, many individuals and Smack Mellon’s Members.
Smack Mellon’s programs are also made possible with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and with generous support from The Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund of The New York Community Trust, Jerome Foundation, The Roy and Niuta Titus Foundation, Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation Inc., and Exploring The Arts. In-kind donations are provided by Materials for the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs/NYC Department of Sanitation/NYC Department of Education.
Space for Smack Mellon’s programs is generously provided by the Walentas family and Two Trees Management.
Smack Mellon would like to extend a special thanks to all of the individuals, foundations, and businesses who have contributed to the NYC COVID-19 Response & Impact Fund.
