Piece of Work
A row of shining tines, wrought like the iron spire fences hemming in 18th-century churches, but burnished to blinding brilliance in ultra-modern stainless steel, stand at attention on the wall of D Berman Gallery, and the clash of the familiar and the novel is disarming.
By Molly Beth Brenner, Fri., Oct. 18, 2002
CF 5-9, 2002
Bronze and stainless steel sculpture by Troy Woods,"Denny McCoy + Troy Woods," through Nov. 2
D Berman Gallery
A row of shining tines, wrought like the iron spire fences hemming in 18th-century churches, but burnished to blinding brilliance in ultra-modern stainless steel, stand at attention on the wall of D Berman Gallery, secured in the grass of no lawn. The tines are screwed instead into the bare gallery wall with simple brackets like those one might find at any fine contemporary hardware store, but which have, in actuality, been meticulously crafted by the artist's capable hands. Clues to Mr. Woods' process are invisible, so smoothly shaped are these slender metal spokes and their anchoring fixtures. Crowning each one in burnished bronze is a flame-shaped gold drop whose gradated arch, as one's eye moves left to right, describes a gentle narrative of movement: A tongue forming a vowel? A blade of grass stirring in the breeze? The failure of breath to extinguish a candle? Or simply the suggested impact of a child's hand running over the tips of a wrought-iron fence on her way to school? The overall effect of this work is one of pliant strength, reminiscent of both elegant, organic figures and über-refined man-made forms. It is this clash of the familiar and the novel that is so disarming in Mr. Woods' piece.
