Long Island City exhibit celebrates the beauty of everyday life
BY TAMMY SCILEPPI
A great way to find happiness
in the new year is to meditate,
and practice mindfulness
by being in the moment. Another
is by finding contentment in
everyday life and beauty in ordinary
things.
Whitney Oldenburg loves
making art from found objects.
Born from a variety
of ordinary materials, like
rock, clay, string, tubing, and
various home goods (including
ice trays), her unexpected
art forms feel firm, spongy,
smooth, rigid, flexible or
coarse to the touch. And they
look kinda weird!
Not surprisingly, the Long
Island City-based artist says
she’s “inspired by daily life.”
And a fascination with the socalled
delicate balance and reciprocal
impacts humans and
objects have on one another,
shapes her highly imaginative
creations.
Oldenburg’s must-see
“Loose Ends” solo exhibition
– now on view at the Materials
for the Arts (MFTA) gallery in
Long Island City – celebrates
the beauty of everyday stuff
and explores the (perhaps universal)
desire to keep things
tightly bound or complete,
when they so easily can become
unraveled.
Stop by and engage with
these amazing sculptures that
were conjured up during her
Fall 2019 residency at MFTA
when she was granted unlimited
access to the supplies in
their 35,000 square-foot warehouse
of donated materials to
incorporate in her exhibit.
“Oldenburg is able to show
how the shapes and textures of
modern, human-made materials
reflect beautiful, natural
occurrence. Her sculpture of
giant orange tubes forms a
massive, 31-foot-long organic
sea creature, humanoid form
that interlaces wall pieces that
feel like they could be fossils
or a coral reef,” said MFTA
Director of Education John
Cloud Kaiser, who oversees
the Artist-in-Residence program,
which provides support
and studio space for creatives
whose practice involves the
out-of-the-box reuse of materials.
“
MFTA has been exceedingly
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.32 COM | DEC. 27-JAN. 2, 2020
supportive and the resources
have been incredible.
There’s a really strong sense
of community that can sometimes
be difficult to find,” said
Oldenburg. “I feel very grateful
for being able to participate.
I also love being able to
access an enormous quantity
of supplies without feeling a
financial burden.”
Her masterpieces, many of
which include complex configurations
of knotted ropes
and string, range in size from
13 inches to 31 feet. Made from
ventilation tubing and rope,
that humongous (aforementioned)
sculpture called “Shoe
Lace” – which extends the
length of one gallery wing – is
the largest work to be installed
in the MFTA gallery to date.
“Whitney Oldenburg truly
transformed the materials
from our warehouse to make
works that are powerful examples
of and advocates for
creative reuse and sustainable
art making,” said MFTA
Education Associate Omar
Olivera, who helps coordinate
the residency program. “Even
though the materials that the
works are made of are still apparent
– rope, rock, paint – the
pieces are beings unto themselves,
with their own internal
structure and logic.”
Kaiser added: “Thanks to
the MFTA Artist-in-Residence
program, we are able to showcase
how top artists can transform
reused materials into the
highest works of art.”
Oldenburg has a Masters
from Rhode Island School of
Design. Her work has been
shown in New York City, Chicago,
Richmond, Houston, Miami,
and Ottawa.
Loose Ends will be on view
at the MFTA gallery (33-00
Northern Blvd., 3rd Floor) until
Friday, March 6. Gallery hours:
Mon. through Fri. from 10 a.m.
to 4 p.m. 718-729-2088
Oldenburg’s work incorporates a variety of materials including
rock, clay, string, tubing, and various home goods including ice
trays. Courtesy of Materials for the Arts
Tues. & Wed. $1895
1 1/4 lb. Lobster, Clams, and Mussels
Served with Corn on the Cob
and Baked Potato
with Purchase of 2 Cocktails,
2 Wines or 2 Beers