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Sunday, April 25, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
ARTFORUM Critic's Picks / Beth Citron
New York
Walt Cassidy
INVISIBLE-EXPORTS
14a Orchard Street
April 2–May 9
In his first solo exhibition, “The Protective Motif,” Walt Cassidy maps his own unconscious through a group of photographs, drawings, and sculptures filled mostly with geometric forms. Whether these triangles, dots, and lines are meditations on his inner experience (or instead diversions from it) remains unclear, yet the results are visually engaging, if affected.
Though his series of photographs “The Inferior Orbs,” 2006, seems to refer unselfconsciously to the now popularized new age dream catchers, the circular form present in works including The Broad and Beaten Way is a bicycle wheel that was a material base for Cassidy’s sculptures. His work does, in fact, draw conceptually from a sustained interest in occult symbolism, though the connection between that and his use of found and very personal objects (he has used a former beloved’s wedding ring in a work) seems arcane.
Successful are Cassidy’s elegant forays into cut brass, including the quasi-Futurist or perhaps Duchamp-inspired Attack on the Ascending, 2010. In a reversal from his concern with the symbolic potential of recycling, his recent works highlight the foundational relationships among essential shapes, while also demonstrating the outcome of childhood exercises the artist learned from his psychologist father. Cassidy repeats and reinvents his motifs in multiple media, which suggests a sense of continuity among the works, and among his many lives since emerging as club kid Waltpaper in the early 1990s. While some of the works evince beautiful and genuine moments, it remains difficult in this show to ascertain just what Cassidy is protecting.
Beth Citron
Walt Cassidy
INVISIBLE-EXPORTS
14a Orchard Street
April 2–May 9
In his first solo exhibition, “The Protective Motif,” Walt Cassidy maps his own unconscious through a group of photographs, drawings, and sculptures filled mostly with geometric forms. Whether these triangles, dots, and lines are meditations on his inner experience (or instead diversions from it) remains unclear, yet the results are visually engaging, if affected.
Though his series of photographs “The Inferior Orbs,” 2006, seems to refer unselfconsciously to the now popularized new age dream catchers, the circular form present in works including The Broad and Beaten Way is a bicycle wheel that was a material base for Cassidy’s sculptures. His work does, in fact, draw conceptually from a sustained interest in occult symbolism, though the connection between that and his use of found and very personal objects (he has used a former beloved’s wedding ring in a work) seems arcane.
Successful are Cassidy’s elegant forays into cut brass, including the quasi-Futurist or perhaps Duchamp-inspired Attack on the Ascending, 2010. In a reversal from his concern with the symbolic potential of recycling, his recent works highlight the foundational relationships among essential shapes, while also demonstrating the outcome of childhood exercises the artist learned from his psychologist father. Cassidy repeats and reinvents his motifs in multiple media, which suggests a sense of continuity among the works, and among his many lives since emerging as club kid Waltpaper in the early 1990s. While some of the works evince beautiful and genuine moments, it remains difficult in this show to ascertain just what Cassidy is protecting.
Beth Citron
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
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Sunday, April 4, 2010
INTERVIEW Magazine: The Magic of Walt Cassidy by Christopher Bollen
INTERVIEW MAGAZINE: Studio Visit: The Magic of Walt Cassidy
By CHRISTOPHER BOLLEN
Underneath the BQE in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, Walt Cassidy is in his Industry City studio preparing to ship his photographs and sculptures for his solo show, "The Protective Motif," which opens Friday at Invisible-Exports on the Lower East Side. It's surprising that this will be Cassidy's first solo show in New York City, since he's lived many artistic lives in this town—most famously as Waltpaper, a key club kid of the Michael Alig outrage-as-art early 90s party scene.
But Cassidy's days at Limelight are over and much of his new work is about escaping those earlier ideas of himself, particularly through an examination of alternate belief systems and the occult. Today he's got a more sober sense of balance, and his idea of living as an artist doesn't include the description enfant terrible. Could it be that this is the work of a reasonably happy artist?
Cassidy's continual use of wheels and circular shapes comes from semi-divine sources. "The shape of orbs that I use are rooted in alchemy," Cassidy says. "And specifically Milton's construction of the cosmos in Paradise Lost. Lucifer is the rebel archetype in that story. I was thinking about that archetype and how the rebellious, dark, fallen outsider artist has overwhelmed art from the 1920s to the 1990s. I think we are past that state."
Cassidy's work operates symbolically on multiple levels, indicating a level of religious spiritualism and secular cultural resonance while also working as a deeply autobiographical portraits. For five works he plans to show—photographs of abstract sculptural pieces he completed in 2006—he says they are as personal as "a Nan Goldin photograph." In these photographs, the empty space in a metal frame is woven with aluminum, brass, and copper wire entangling pieces of glass, metal, and specifically sentimental items such as wedding rings from a one-time partner. The circular frame in each photograph is actually a bicycle wheel, which suggests a reflective orb or a mythical wheel, but also the artist's limited means. "I was making work out of my own apartment so I didn't have space to store the work I was making. I found that bike rim on the street because I didn't have a lot of money and I kept photographing what I made on it."
Since he established his own studio space a year and a half ago, Cassidy found room to create on a larger scale and preserve the results. Lately he's been working in cut brass, weaving, stripping, and hooking abstract patterns and textures on a wood frame across a black background that read almost as meditation pieces. "I didn't want to use any more found items," he says, "because I was looking for materials and shapes that didn't have energy attached to them already. That way the work could be more my own." Certainly, the ambitious pieces—minimalist in material but maximalist in emotion—are more about reflection and illumination than in binding or fastening something in. Interestingly, Cassidy's work also operated where autobiography meets methodology: in the 1970s in Southern California, his father was an industrial psychologist in the days of IQ testing. Cassidy remembers taking the test, which boiled down to arranging shapes in certain formations. "It was about finding a personal logic in abstract emotions," he says. "And so is this work."
THE PROTECTIVE MOTIF OPENS APRIL 2, 6–9 PM. INVISIBLE EXPORTS IS LOCATED AT 14A ORCHARD STREET, NEW YORK.
By CHRISTOPHER BOLLEN
Underneath the BQE in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, Walt Cassidy is in his Industry City studio preparing to ship his photographs and sculptures for his solo show, "The Protective Motif," which opens Friday at Invisible-Exports on the Lower East Side. It's surprising that this will be Cassidy's first solo show in New York City, since he's lived many artistic lives in this town—most famously as Waltpaper, a key club kid of the Michael Alig outrage-as-art early 90s party scene.
But Cassidy's days at Limelight are over and much of his new work is about escaping those earlier ideas of himself, particularly through an examination of alternate belief systems and the occult. Today he's got a more sober sense of balance, and his idea of living as an artist doesn't include the description enfant terrible. Could it be that this is the work of a reasonably happy artist?
Cassidy's continual use of wheels and circular shapes comes from semi-divine sources. "The shape of orbs that I use are rooted in alchemy," Cassidy says. "And specifically Milton's construction of the cosmos in Paradise Lost. Lucifer is the rebel archetype in that story. I was thinking about that archetype and how the rebellious, dark, fallen outsider artist has overwhelmed art from the 1920s to the 1990s. I think we are past that state."
Cassidy's work operates symbolically on multiple levels, indicating a level of religious spiritualism and secular cultural resonance while also working as a deeply autobiographical portraits. For five works he plans to show—photographs of abstract sculptural pieces he completed in 2006—he says they are as personal as "a Nan Goldin photograph." In these photographs, the empty space in a metal frame is woven with aluminum, brass, and copper wire entangling pieces of glass, metal, and specifically sentimental items such as wedding rings from a one-time partner. The circular frame in each photograph is actually a bicycle wheel, which suggests a reflective orb or a mythical wheel, but also the artist's limited means. "I was making work out of my own apartment so I didn't have space to store the work I was making. I found that bike rim on the street because I didn't have a lot of money and I kept photographing what I made on it."
Since he established his own studio space a year and a half ago, Cassidy found room to create on a larger scale and preserve the results. Lately he's been working in cut brass, weaving, stripping, and hooking abstract patterns and textures on a wood frame across a black background that read almost as meditation pieces. "I didn't want to use any more found items," he says, "because I was looking for materials and shapes that didn't have energy attached to them already. That way the work could be more my own." Certainly, the ambitious pieces—minimalist in material but maximalist in emotion—are more about reflection and illumination than in binding or fastening something in. Interestingly, Cassidy's work also operated where autobiography meets methodology: in the 1970s in Southern California, his father was an industrial psychologist in the days of IQ testing. Cassidy remembers taking the test, which boiled down to arranging shapes in certain formations. "It was about finding a personal logic in abstract emotions," he says. "And so is this work."
THE PROTECTIVE MOTIF OPENS APRIL 2, 6–9 PM. INVISIBLE EXPORTS IS LOCATED AT 14A ORCHARD STREET, NEW YORK.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Fortress
to fail to fulfill
to be false
the seeds of deception
the dark torture of shadows...
...and whispers
the gentle wrap of smoke...caress and lie.
but I have walked amongst your veil
I have seen the black geese
as they tend to empty fountains
I stood high
and in corners
watching
the nervous peal of desperation
a weed will always follow a flower.
fermenting.
and I stand before the brigade
the quiet nervousness.
the offense.
the smell.
and the whispers always fall
in shards
away, and violent.
and there is destruction.
for these walls cannot be climbed
but there will be ash
as it is time to burn the village
and rape.
for there will be a clear day.
in silence.
and the lost built a ladder
and scaled the fortress walls
and more seeds fell
and more walls grew
flints of light
and logic
permission for death
for they will never ignite these walls
...but it's true how it burns.
walt cassidy
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The Protective Motif - Artist Statement
Walt Cassidy: The Protective Motif
April 2 – May 9, 2010
Invisible-Exports
www.invisible-exports.com
14a Orchard Street
New York, NY 10002
(212) 226-5447
"This exhibition features sculptures, photographs, and ink drawings, built around a central theme of “protective motifs”. Imploring narrative abstraction with a combination of transformative and diaristic agendas, my interest is in creating aesthetic fields of color, line and surface. Each composition is at the same time, ambiguous yet highly resonant with subtext.
The introductory suite of photographs, The Inferior Orbs, 2006, serves as an alphabet to the remaining works in the exhibition, formally and conceptually. Featuring circular sculptures built exclusively for the staging of each photograph, they reference a densely layered symbolism and biographical narration that are ongoing features of my work.
In a second series, Paper Photos, 2009, subject matter is constructed out of cut arrangements of colored paper mounted to a wall and then photographed. In using materials so close in appearance to the final pigment on rag prints, the photographic plane is severely narrowed to hand cut lines and subtle shadows created by the paper curling away from the surface ground. What remains, is a heavily saturated and vibrating graphic motif.
The exhibition continues with a series of wall-based sculptures constructed of cut brass foils, wire, and fabric suspended in plywood frames. The largest of these works, Nail Bomb, 2009, illustrates an ambient field of tiny circles and fragments wired together in what appears to be, without the knowledge of the title, a romantically choreographed abstraction. Originally begun as a conceptual parallel to the idea of prayer beads, the piece metaphorically describes emotional violence and abuse, and serves as a meditation on surrender. This spiritual utility infuses not just this work, but emanates throughout the exhibition as a whole."
Walt Cassidy
April 2 – May 9, 2010
Invisible-Exports
www.invisible-exports.com
14a Orchard Street
New York, NY 10002
(212) 226-5447
"This exhibition features sculptures, photographs, and ink drawings, built around a central theme of “protective motifs”. Imploring narrative abstraction with a combination of transformative and diaristic agendas, my interest is in creating aesthetic fields of color, line and surface. Each composition is at the same time, ambiguous yet highly resonant with subtext.
The introductory suite of photographs, The Inferior Orbs, 2006, serves as an alphabet to the remaining works in the exhibition, formally and conceptually. Featuring circular sculptures built exclusively for the staging of each photograph, they reference a densely layered symbolism and biographical narration that are ongoing features of my work.
In a second series, Paper Photos, 2009, subject matter is constructed out of cut arrangements of colored paper mounted to a wall and then photographed. In using materials so close in appearance to the final pigment on rag prints, the photographic plane is severely narrowed to hand cut lines and subtle shadows created by the paper curling away from the surface ground. What remains, is a heavily saturated and vibrating graphic motif.
The exhibition continues with a series of wall-based sculptures constructed of cut brass foils, wire, and fabric suspended in plywood frames. The largest of these works, Nail Bomb, 2009, illustrates an ambient field of tiny circles and fragments wired together in what appears to be, without the knowledge of the title, a romantically choreographed abstraction. Originally begun as a conceptual parallel to the idea of prayer beads, the piece metaphorically describes emotional violence and abuse, and serves as a meditation on surrender. This spiritual utility infuses not just this work, but emanates throughout the exhibition as a whole."
Walt Cassidy
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Endurance.
...mental, physical and spiritual.
Shelters
Ladders
Passageways
Courses
Paths
Crests
Surrender
Escape
Battle
Injury
Healing
Strategy
Patience
Responsibility
Discipline
Cleansing
Contemplation
Action
Ascension
Shelters
Ladders
Passageways
Courses
Paths
Crests
Surrender
Escape
Battle
Injury
Healing
Strategy
Patience
Responsibility
Discipline
Cleansing
Contemplation
Action
Ascension
Monday, January 11, 2010
It Nearly Killed Me To Walk Away From You
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...I will destroy man whom I have created...
A wave is a disturbance that propagates through space and time, usually with transference of energy.
That Magnificent Storm
Sitting here
Loving like this
Alone again
In God's valley
After that magnificent storm
Of Your presence just
Passed.
I am like an elegant cypress
Whose face and form
Your beauty
Ruined.
Why not
Accuse You of infidelity
Or much
Worse
When every
Lover of God in this world
Would gladly
Testify
On
My
Behalf.
Hafiz (Daniel Ladinsky)
Attack on the Ascending
painful or resentful awareness.
to do in a formal manner or according to prescribed ritual.
Broken
communication from one mind to another by extrasensory means.
being irregular, interrupted, or full of obstacles.
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