Twisted pieces of paper, toothpaste swashes and soap scum, were just a few of the odd findings and castoff materials Brassaï used as subjects in a 1932 photographic series he coined, ‘Involuntary Sculptures.’ The fetish of the found has a deeply rooted history within photography and sculpture and continues to thrive as a leitmotif well into the 21st century. The four emerging and established artists that dot the globe for ‘Voluntary Sculptures,’ relish the discarded and everyday, building upon traditions from 16th century still life painting to Dada and the readymade. The interplay between physical materiality, photographic representation and site specificity are explored.

Motivated by ideas of permanence, David Gilbert (Los Angeles) uses photography to document specific moments throughout the lifespan of his perpetual constructions of debris playfully staged out of his studio (once a former hotel room). Rubbish such as; eggshells, blankets, paper towel rolls and the like, exist fluidly between sculpture, installation and painting. Some arrangements are lucky enough to become forever immortalized in a photograph. Once documented, the humble and “…unapologetically crappy,” as Gilbert states, become monumental and heroic.

Likewise, Kathrin Sonntag (Berlin) begins with the studio as site for observation and excavation. For the exhibition, Sonntag presents “Heutu Bleibe Ich Daheim,” a slide projection piece that places the simplest of materials in the most precarious arrangements – a standing pair of scissors, an upside down bottle of soda, or a lamp caressing an apple. All found in her studio, each object evokes a quiet stillness with an odd injection of tenderness and humor.

Charlott Markus (Amsterdam) often performs site-specific interventions that disrupt or re-contextualize the natural order of things. Preexisting architectural anomalies within a given space can serve as a template for her photo-based sculptures. In the series ‘The Untitled,’ punctured walls of an abandoned medical clinic in NY become a surface to build abstract arrangements made with found fabric. Their flamboyant prints and colors act as graffiti or a form of mark making.

Ian Pedigo (New York) has been grouped with the likes Richard Tuttle, Ghedi Sebony, B. Wurtz and the long lineage of artists that transform low-grade scrap into prime source material for making work. Unique to Pedigo is his pairings of man made discards with organic matter like slate, birch branches, jasper and mica, often being sited as having spiritual or shamanistic undertones. His sculptures, reductive and fragile, give new meaning to the habits of an over consuming culture.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

David Gilbert

David Gilbert, born in 1982, currently lives and works in Los Angeles. He received his B.F.A. in Photography and Imaging from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in 2004, and his M.F.A. from UC Riverside in 2011. Gilbert’s work involves sculptural assemblages and still lives constructed from found materials like fabric, cardboard, paper, wood, plaster, and paint. The compositions he creates are often photographed and presented as large-scale prints that, though two-dimensional, preserve the readability and tactility of the elements he uses. Recent solo exhibitions include ‘Blueboy,’ Workspace, Los Angeles (2009); ‘David Gilbert,’ Gallery 1927, Los Angeles (2009); ‘Oh Baby!,’ Phyllis Gill Gallery, Riverside (2009); ‘Tierney Fellowship Show,’ Gulf and Western Gallery, New York (2010). Selected group exhibitions include ‘Die Dame: Alika Cooper, David Gilbert, Rona Yefman,’ Night Gallery, Los Angeles (2010); ‘Beige + Plastic,’ organized by Leila Khastoo, Los Angeles (2011); ‘My House is Your House,’ Slater Waldorf Gallery, Los Angeles (2011); ‘Rear Window,’ Night Gallery, Los Angeles (2011).

Charlott Markus

Charlott Markus, originally from Sweden, is based in Amsterdam. In 2007 she graduated from the Photography Department of Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Prior to her graduate studies, she attended Fatamorgana, The Danish School of Art Photography in Copenhagen. Markus constructs still lives and arrangements that predominantly end up as a photographic presentation and occasionally as site-specific spatial pieces. Since 2008, Markus has been a member of POC, the European network for contemporary images. Recent exhibitions include; ‘The New Living Art exhibition’ curated by Charlotte Cotton, at the Irish Museum of Contemporary Art, Dublin, Ireland (2010) ‘The Collector’s Guide to New Art Photography,’ Chelsea Art Museum, New York (2011); and a solo show at ACF – Amsterdam Center for Photography, The Netherlands (2011).

Ian Pedigo

Born in Alaska and based in New York, Ian Pedigo studied sculpture at the University of Texas at Austin and at the Salzburg Summer Academy of Fine Art in Austria. His work has been exhibited in the US and in Europe. Pedigo’s work occupies a space between found-object accumulations and three-dimensional collage. Delicate and reductive, deliberate and structured, his assemblages apply a formal complexity to the materials he finds in his surroundings. Solo exhibitions include ‘OnBalanceVolume,’ Pianissimo, Milan (2008); ‘The State Of Before As Its Form,’ Cardenas Bellanger, Paris (2009); ‘Those that Float Because They are Light,’ SAAG, Alberta, Canada (2009); ‘Accumulations of Matter,’ Klaus Von Nichtssagend, NY (2010). Selected group shows include ‘Circumventing the City,’ curated by Rachel Uffner, D’amelio Terras, NY (2007); ‘Stubborn Materials,’ curated by Simone Subal, Peter Blum, NY (2007); and ‘The Gentle Art of Collapsing the Expanded Field’ curated by Chris Sharp at Cardenas Bellanger Paris (2008). His work has been written about in Artforum, Frieze, Art News, Art Review, The New York Times, Time Out New York, and The New Yorker amongst other publications.

Kathrin Sonntag

Born 1981, Kathrin Sonntag lives and works in Berlin. She received her MA and BA in Visual Arts from the University of the Arts Berlin, Germany in 2006. Sonntag’s installations are precisely constructed groupings of objects, drawings, photographs and films. As works, they meticulously analyze everyday life through an investigation of materials, and bridge the gap between the abstract and the familiar. Selected solo exhibitions include ‘Kathrin Sonntag at White Light,’ Düsseldorf (2007), ‘Mittnacht,’ Swiss Institute, New York (2009); ‘Zum bunten Schwein,’ Samsa, Berlin (2010); and ‘Double Take,’ Galerie Kamm, Berlin (2011). Recent group exhibitions include ‘Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines,’ Bortolami Gallery at The Webster, Miami (2010); ‘Leopards in the Temple,’ Sculpture Center, New York (2010). Sonntag was the recipient of the Swiss Art Award, 2009. Her work has been written about in Frieze, Art Review, The New York Times, Mousse Magazine, and Monopol Magazin amongst other publications.