There seems to be a growing hunger in the art world for experiences that you literally MUST visit in person. This usually takes the form of massive and interactive big-budget installations that won’t fit on your iPhone. For example, the famous performance artist Marina Abramović is currently presenting an exhibition in which visitors are blindfolded and given noise-canceling earphones before entering an empty gallery space to wander around. (It’s AMAZING).
But when an artist provides an intense level of visual physicality that demands examination outside of a computer screen, and does so in the space of only a couple inches… something truly magical is happening.
Sculptor Matt Hoyt presents a new body of tiny abstract sculptures, on view at Bureau gallery that must be seen in person.
It’s Always Nice to Meet You (Installation View), Bureau, New York, 2014
It’s Always Nice to Meet You (Installation View), Bureau, New York, 2014
Untitled (Group 106 – Once) 2006-2014
Untitled (Group 109 – Two Passages) 2013-2014
The materials in each piece are diverse and vague, including a mix of “various putties” “plastic”, “metal”, “Krazy Glue”, and “spray paint” to name just a few. The dates are listed in ranges, spanning up to 8 years for a single combination. It’s this unidentifiable mix of material (that perhaps the artist doesn’t even remember) and grouping of new and older objects (without knowing which is which) that gives each work a sense of mystery and wonder beyond art 100 times its size.
It’s Always Nice to Meet You (Installation View), Bureau, New York, 2014
Untitled (Group 110 – Pull / Line Pull / Line) 2013-2014
Untitled (Group 123- Convex / Concave Forms) 2006 – 2014
Untitled (Group 129 – Pictures of Spring) 2013-2014
Each colored rectangular platform is a single work of art, holding 1 to 9 “components”. The selection and positions within each arrangement is as considered and poetic as the objects themselves. Works are titled by a group number and a more traditional title that, like the colored platforms, highlight without overpowering.
Untitled (Group 131 – Stella) 2013-2014
Even the tables that display the arrangements pull you closer (but don’t touch). The low height requires you to take a position like an umpire to examine the works, resting your hands on your knees, to pause longer, give full focus, and marvel at the small things.
It’s Always Nice to Meet You (Installation View), Bureau, New York, 2014
Untitled (Group 121 – Thorns) 2014
What: Matt Hoyt: It’s Always Nice to Meet You
Where: Bureau, 178 Norfolk St, NYC
When: November 5 – December 21, 2014
All images courtesy of the artist and Bureau, New York.
