Kandler’s brilliantly composed figural group, The Judgement of Paris (1762) was intended as a table centerpiece that would appear with dessert. It depicts the story of the shepherd Paris awarding the golden apple to Venus, whose charms he preferred to those of Minerva and Juno. The splashes of color add a frivolous note, in tune with the frothy rococo spirit of the sculpture. Moreover, hints of naturalistic coloring deny these goddesses the timelessness of idealizing sculpture, making them instead into modern beauties who perform a titillating after-dinner entertainment.
Photographed in The Met Breuer (Now Closed) as Part of the 2018 Exhibit, Like Life: Sculpture, Color and The Body.
Jeff Koons’ Woman in Tub (1988) combines a cartoon-like rendering of a nude woman startled by a submerged snorkeler with the exquisite, hard-paste porcelain finish of typical 18th-century Rococo figurines. Part of Koons‘ Banality series, which is characterized by oddly eroticized, comic and kitsch images, this work takes personal taste — good and bad — as its primary subject.
In the mid- 1800s, German immigrant John Henry Belter was New York City’s most important cabinetmaker, producing Rococo Revival style furniture for the luxury market. Belter garnered an international reputation for the suites of drawing-room furniture he manufactured, many of laminated and deeply carved rosewood. This large and exuberant sofa, embellished with bountiful carved bouquets of naturalistic blooms, epitomizes his best work. The modern damask covering was chosen because fragments of the original dark red sill upholstery were found on the sofa’s frame during recent conservation
Photographed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.
These superb Wrought Iron Gates (circa 1900) by Emile Robert (French 1860 -1924) are rendered by hand in the curvilinear Art Nouveau style, which originated in northern Europe in the late 1890s and flourished until World War I. The revival of interest in wrought iron work in this period was inspired by the beautiful, ornate, Rococo gates and fences around the main square and garden of the French city of Nancy, an early center of the Art Nouveau style. The butterfly motif in these gates is indicative of the main influences of Art Nouveau design: observation of the natural world and motifs popular in Japanese art.
Joshua Liner Gallery is currently hosting the must-see exhibit, Revival, featuring mixed-media assemblage sculptures by Kansas-based artist Kris Kuksi. This is Kuksi’s fourth solo exhibition with the gallery with works ranging medium-in-size to some over five feet-tall and five feet-wide. The works were definitely on a much smaller scale than those included in a previous exhibit of his work, Triumph, which we saw in March of 2012. Continuing in Kuksi’s highly recognizable assemblage style, each sculpture contains worlds within worlds within worlds, every inch of the piece telling layered stories rich with occult meaning.
Detail from the Sculpture, Above
Film Director Guillermo del Toro has referred to Kuksi as “a postindustrial Rococo master,” a fitting compliment to the artist’s Shrine-like tableaus.
Detail from the Sculpture, Above
I can’t even imagine how labor intensive these pieces are, considering the placement of each tiny piece seems entirely intentional. There must be several thousand components in each of Kuksi’s sculptures. You could probably look at one for a year and never see everything.
Revival also includes a small scale version of The Churchtank — a steepled church structure fused to the base of a tank — a much larger edition of which was given the run of Liner’s rear gallery space during the Triumph exhibit. Church Tank!
Kris Kuksi Photographed by Gail at Joshua Liner Gallery
Kris was present at the opening reception last Thursday and he was super nice to all his fans. I asked him if he’d every considered putting lots of tiny objects in his beard, and while he claimed to have considered the idea, he’d declined to execute it.
I like this guy. He looks like a Renaissance badass.
Detail from the Sculpture, Above
Kris Kuksi is massively talented and truly a one-of-a-kind artist. Don’t miss your chance to see his work up close. Fortunately, you have a little extra time to make it the Liner Gallery for this one.
Kris Kuksi’s Revival will be on Exhibit Through January 18, 2014 at Joshua Liner Gallery, Located at 540 West 28th Street, New York, in the Chelsea Gallery District. Gallery Hours are Tuesday — Saturday from 11:00 AM — 6:00 PM.
