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For Volume 7 of our STWT we're going back to one of my favorite galleries, Hauser & Wirth.
On view at their 22nd St location is Eva Hesse's Five Sculptures. I find her work so intriguing to look at because they have a quality that feels familiar but isn't. They resemble fabric, curtains, a rug even, and this really draws you in. Immediately my mind says I know this but wait I don't, what could it be? And then more and more I find myself mesmerized by the materiality and shape. It's equally calming and unnerving to feel that sense of safety and uncertainty.
Something very unique about her work is that most pieces are size dependent on the environments limitations. This is most notable in Expanded Expansion. Combining her favored materials, fiberglass and rubberized cheesecloth, this piece is a great example of her interest in paired opposites. Conceptualizing absurdity she plays with extremes to create such visual interest.
Along with nonmechanical repetition at the heart of her creative process, she challenged the minimalist movement with her pioneering use of alternative sculpture ushering in the postminimal movement of the 1960s. While she had no political agenda I particularly like this statement of hers, "The way to beat discrimination in art is by art. Excellence has no sex." Walking around the gallery you can truly feel the excellence and magnitude these pieces have. She is not trying to force anything unnatural or contrived but truly expressing herself in an intuitive way with the materials.
When I dress I like to play with proportion and pair extremes. For this go I wore the Seville Dress from Collection 1. To me it is such a versatile piece because I can wear it either on its own as a dress or as a tunic paired wtih some slim fitting pants like I did this day. On top I have the Perth Jacket which is a boxier fit in a medium heavy cotton twill. Offsetting the hardness of the jacket, the drape and sheen of the Seville's sandwashed satin really helps balance out the look.
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