Catharine Clark Gallery co-presents Neutral Calibration Studies (Ornament + Crime) (2016), a major platform-based sculpture by American artist Stephanie Syjuco, in collaboration with RYAN LEE Gallery for Meridians.
In the installation Neutral Calibration Studies (Ornament + Crime), Syjuco creates a contemporary “still life” that takes inspiration from photographic color calibration charts, which have long been used to check for “correct” or “neutral” color. The array of images and objects in the work creates a visual friction, challenging the idea of cultural and political neutrality by presenting a coded narrative of empire and colonialism as told through art history, Modernism, ethnography, stock photos, and Google Image searches.
The installation takes the form of a 20-foot wide wooden platform reminiscent of a stage set or modern-day vanitas, set atop a large photographic “neutral gray” seamless paper backdrop. Displaying laser-cut wooden flats mounted with digitally printed images, readymade objects, and a selection of ashen, neutral gray painted props, this alternative “still life” collapses historical imagery with contemporary concerns. The viewer is perceptually thrown off guard, presented with what appear to be 3-dimensional objects mixed in with artificial and flat-fronted representations.
Meridians is Art Basel Miami Beach's platform for large-scale projects that push the boundaries of the traditional art fair layout, this year curated by Yasmil Raymond.
