All Photos By Gail

To be honest, if a work of art also ‘lights up,’ I’m in. So it’s a bit appropriate that I was attracted into the C24 Gallery on a recent Saturday by the light emitting from London-based artist Robert Montgomery’s poetic, text-based installation works as seen from the sidewalk through gallery windows. Random!

The work of Robert Montgomery follows a tradition of conceptual text art that includes artists like Jenny Holzer (love her) and Lawrence Weiner. Montgomery’s work stands out by drawing from examples of public interventionist strategies and brings a poetic voice to the discourse of text art.

The show’s Press Release continues that, “Essential to Montgomery’s work is the tradition of Modernist Concrete poetry, where the visual elements of words are as important in conveying the intended effect as the conventional elements of the poem, such as the meaning of words, rhythm, rhyme, etc.”

For Montgomery’s first exhibit in New York, C24 Gallery is exhibiting texts from billboards that appeared on the streets of Berlin, London and Paris, along with major new light works. There is also one piece featuring a large scale billboard poem that was previously set on fire, and a film of the burning message is on view in the gallery, creating an engaging, yet passive performance piece. Very Fun!

Robert Montgomery will be exhibiting until October 26th, 2013 at C24 Gallery, Located at 514 West 24th Street in the Chelsea Gallery District.