|
Charles LeDray, Milk and Honey (detail)
|
|
Charles LeDray got hooked on art when he
worked as a guard at the Seattle Art Museum and was smitten by fastidiously
handcrafted art from all around the world, especially Neolithic
Chinese jades, Mughal powder horns, African masks and Southeast
Asian jewelry and textiles. Many nights, LeDray has said, he would
leave the museum "with a burning desire to make something --
anything -- inspired by spending the day with great works of art."
For the past 13 years, as demonstrated in this truly marvelous exhibition,
LeDray has harnessed this passion for "making" by laboriously
creating sculptures based on ordinary objects. That LeDray, born
in Seattle and now based in New York, is having his first one-person
museum show right here in Philadelphia is much to the credit of
Claudia Gould, ICA director and curator of the exhibition.
LeDray applies his unique abilities as an impassioned autodidact
and a meticulous multimedia craftsman to the common objects he uses
for subject matter (clothes, buttons, hats, vessels, furniture,
toys, etc.), to make sculptures that hint provocatively at his memories
and emotional states. S.A.M., 1994, is a copy, perhaps even
a portrait, of the uniform he wore while he worked at the Seattle
Art Museum. At about 25 inches tall, and not at all useful or wearable,
the garment -- including hand-sewn jacket, shirt, tie and trousers
-- is a little piece of personal history that the artist shares
quite simply with the viewer. In this piece, and many of the other
sculptures in the show, the subject is distilled through a reduction
in scale into a more emotionally intense version of its source.
LeDray's sculptures are full of other meanings as well, sometimes
historical or socio-political. Come Together is a small denim
shirt (that could be worn by my cat) that evokes the 1960s and draws
on the artist's personal history -- LeDray was taught to sew at
age 4 by his "hippie" mother. The shirt is elaborately
embroidered with flowers, peace signs, hearts and other designs
and is displayed on a metal rack with its sleeves outstretched and
an arch of even tinier clothing extends buoyantly from one cuff
to the other. Village People, 1993 and 1997-2002, is an ongoing
series of small hats that is emblematic of the gay pride movement.
Sixty-four hats made of felt, fabric, leather and other materials,
and representative of a variety of personalities from decorous to
flamboyant, are arranged in a long row along two sides of the gallery
just out of reach.
In another series of sculptures, LeDray has respectfully carved
and constructed tiny objects out of real human bone -- a disquieting
reminder of both the impermanence of life and the amazing durability
of the human skeletal system. Door, 1999, is a finely detailed
six-panel door, about 2 inches by 5 inches, outfitted with all of
the necessary hardware, including hinges, lock set and knobs. This
tiny and unused door suggests a metaphorical transition between
the world of the living and the world of the dead. Also made of
human bone, Buttons, 2000-02, is a display of 130 buttons
of many shapes and sizes. Although they are extremely beautiful,
I cringe a little at the thought of handling them. The subtle colors
of the bone in these pieces, ranging from ivory to tan to pinkish-gray,
are incongruously lovely. (Note: The artist purchased the bone from
a mail-order company.)
In a tour de force, Milk and Honey, 1994-96, LeDray has filled
a large wood-framed glass case with 2,000 tiny hand-thrown vessels,
all pristinely white. The irrepressible uniqueness of the each of
the innumerable vessels -- bowls, vases, teapots, coffee mugs, goblets
and more -- is an inspired vision of a joyful world of emotional
embodiment. Plus, the glowing light reflected off of them is truly
awe-inspiring. This sculpture, and the rest of Charles LeDray's
wonderful show, produces an effect similar to the industriously
carved or painted religious art of the Middle Ages, or to Chinese
jades and rhinoceros-horn libation cups. Now, as it was then, good
workmanship, done generously and cheerfully, is innately healthy
for the human spirit.
-Susan
Hagen, May 2002
for
more information on this exhibition, click
here |
©
2002 Susan
Hagen and Philadelphia City Paper; image copyright 2002 Charles LeDray |
