Alois Kronschlaeger with his site-specific installation “Kind of Blue”
NYC artist unveils new blue
exhibit to the Lower East Side
BY BOB KRASNER
Alois Kronschlaeger is an explorer
– of possibility. An artist
who earned his Master’s at SVA
in 2002, he has spent the years since
creating sculpture on small and large
scale – from wall pieces to site-specifi c
installations that can fi ll up to 10,000
square feet.
His latest piece, ‘Kind of Blue’, occupies
a 1500 square feet storefront
with 575 yards of blue ultra suede at 219
Bowery, the former home of a Vans shoe
store that is conveniently located beneath
his gallerist, Cristin Tierney.
“I found out the space was becoming
available, so I rented it out and told Alois
he could do whatever he wanted there,”
explains Tierney. After representing him
for 10 years, she had no doubt that the
results would be wonderful.
Kronschlaeger began work before the
retail shop was gone, scouting the location
and building a scale model of the
proposed project. Once inside, he worked
out the parameters of the project with the
landlord. “I couldn’t mess with the tin
ceiling or the brick walls,” said Kronschlaeger.
And, not surprisingly, his initial
idea to take out the front of the shop
and open it up as a public space was
not going to happen. “First, you shoot
for the impossible!” he states.
The simplicity of the concept – yards
of fabric fl owing over an infrastructure
of 2×2’s that form a structural
grid – doesn’t immediately relay all
the thought that has gone into it. The
Austrian-born Kronschlaeger is an artist
whose infl uences run as deep as his
ambition. Architecture is at the top of
his list, alongside history, philosophy,
fashion, geometry and jazz. Speaking of
which, the piece’s title is a defi nite nod
to the Miles Davis masterpiece, which
we agree is a perfect jazz album. Not
only is it his favorite morning music,
but it is an aural equivalent to his
installation.
“The lattice underneath is like the
frame of jazz,” he explains. “The blue
material is the improvisation. The big unknown,
the X factor, is how it will work
PHOTOS BY BOB KRASNER
out.” The timing of the show is perfect for
him, as “we begin to exhale, to relax after
the four horrible years of the presidency
and the pandemic year. There are various
blues that come out in different light,
and they can relate to various feelings.”
Musing further on the color, he notes that
“blue is a very unusual color. The Greeks
didn’t recognize blue. It doesn’t appear in
literature until the 16th century.”
The artist does not, however, want
to guide observers in their experience
of the piece or ascribe deeper meaning
to its purpose. ” When people enter the
space they can navigate freely,”he says.
“They can contemplate color, space, light
and time, but what they perceive is up
to them.”
Kronschlaeger has remained true to
his methods and his work ethics, which
he developed years ago. “When I fi rst
came to NY, I worked in a gallery and
set up a daily schedule for myself: 7 hours
of work to make money, 7 hours of work
in my studio and 7 hours to sleep. The
remaining 3 hours was travel time.”
Having met him 10 years ago, Tierney’s
Gallery Director Candace Moeller
notes that “he’s remained interested in
the same ideas but the ways that he’s
found to express them have evolved. The
cube is the basis of many of his works, but
he pushes himself to use new materials
and forms.”
“He’s a relentless experimenter,”
agrees Tierney, who has seen his palette
expand over the years as he has tried
working with plexiglass, aluminum,
rubber, India ink, resins, steel and yarn.
“You never know what you are going to
fi nd in his studio.”
And it depends which studio you are
in, as he divides his time between a home
in the Lower East Side and another in
Mexico City, a city he loves as much as
NY. “The work I do is different there, ”
he notes. “More of my kinetic sculpture
comes out of that environment.”
His work has landed in many different
places, with installations in the Czech
Republic, Buenos Aires, Peru, Austria, Japan,
France, China and Michigan, among
others. Grand Rapids was the site of a
piece that combined three abandoned
buildings with a wheelchair-accessible
ramp. His fi rst, unrealized, concept was
a piece that would have connected 4 valleys
of the Danube with a construction of
granite and fabric.
“Kind of Blue” runs through June 30
at 219 Bowery, ground fl oor. More info
at: cristintierney.com
The artist’s website is aloiskronschlaeger.
com
Alois Kronschlaeger ( kneeling )
and his wife Florencia Minniti on
opening night. Both are wearing
clothing designed and handmade by
Minniti.
Scchnepss Mediia Mayy 27,, 2021 19
/cristintierney.com
