Emil Lukas: Connection to the Curious
July 10—October 9, 2005The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum presented Connection to the Curious, a solo exhibition of the work of Emil Lukas, from July 10 through October 9, 2005.
Lukas is interested in the beauty that results from an open-ended exploration of materials and the art-making processes. Engaging the viewer's curiosity, Lukas champions non-traditional ways of viewing his work, allowing the viewer to engage and interact with the work in multiple ways. This exhibition featured an indoor installation of a stacked sculpture, titled White Center, made with paper, canvas, wood, plaster, thread, and organic material. Thirty-one double-sided sections were stacked to create the 72-inch high sculpture. In piling the sections one on top of the other, Lukas is shielding the remarkable surfaces and textures unique to each piece, underscoring the inter-relatedness of each of the components. Meant to be flipped through like a book, the sculpture challenges our conventional sense of viewing, forcing us to engage with Lukas's work more physically to try to understand his process.
Using a boroscope, or "lipstick camera", Lukas provided the viewer with a peek inside the stack to view the materials that make up his vernacular in the video, Connection to the Curious. Filled with complicated layers of materials such as a dehydrated frog, plaster, and the wells of paint that recur in his work, the video offered a look at the layers of White Center. The film transformed the sculpture into an architectural space, the wide-angle lens enlarging the scale and giving the viewer the sensation of passing through the work. In another new work for the exhibition, Drawing Rocks, Lukas discreetly placed a series of stone sculptures throughout the Museum's property, both inside and outside the Museum. Each of these "rocks" had a recess filled with castings the artist made from material selected from his vernacular: cement, plaster, plastic, or glass. Paper was available for visitors to make their own works, by rubbing, piercing, burnishing or embossing the surfaces of the sculptures.
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Emil Lukas, White Center, 2005, Mixed media on canvas, wood, paper and glass with thread, pencil, and organic material, 73 x 12 x 16 inches, Courtesy of the artist.
Emil Lukas, White Center Video Loop, 2005, Video installation filmed with borescope camera, Projection from DVD format; color, sound; 12 minutes, Designed and edited by Anthony Crisafulli, Borescope provided by Lenox Instrument Company, Inc., Trevose, PA. Courtesy of the artist.
Emil Lukas, White Center Interactive CD, 2005, Interactive CD presented on iMac computer with mouse interface, Designed and edited by Anthony Crisafulli, Courtesy of the artist.
All works courtesy of the artist
Emil Lukas acknowledged the support in the organization of this exhibition by his colleagues at the Williams Center for the Arts, Lafayette College, Easton, PA. Special appreciation also went to the staff of The Aldrich Museum for sharing ideas and enthusiasm for this project from conception to reality.
About the Artist
Born in Pittsburgh in 1964, Lukas lives and works in Stockertown, Pennsylvania. He will be mounting a solo exhibition at The Weatherspoon Museum, Greensboro, NC, and in June 2005 and The Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, in September 2005.Top of page: Emil Lukas, Drawing Rocks, 2005, 26 Connecticut fieldstones of various sizes with sandblasted recesses, imbedded with textured panels of hydrocal, cement, glass, metal, plastic and rubber, Installation scattered throughout the Museum's Sculpture Garden, Sandblasting by A&B Family Memorials, Inc., Norwalk, CT
