Ray at Night has come and gone but The Potency of Objects, an intriguing sculptural exhibition by Kevin Greeland at OBR Gallery Space on Ray Street will be on view until Dec. 5. The exhibition consists of various materials that Greeland has found or deliberately sought out that he then uses as a springboard for investigating the social and emotional life of objects.
Here’s how he explains his process: “In mining the history of objects, I use the relationship of the object to the body. I mold, cast and alter the objects to explore issues of authenticity, replication, consumption, value, status and identity. My investigation is a debate between the real and the simulated.”
One example of this process can be found in an exquisite collection of small bottles decorated with amber colored glass crystals, each filled with (wait for it) a splash of mens’ urine, each one a different shade of yellow. It’s gorgeous. It’s urine. It’s art! The piece also involves 45 corresponding encaustic photographs.
Clearly, Greeland does not confine himself to a single medium and his work can be approached from a variety of angles. It is about the home, which with this show of work results in reproductions of shelters, shacks, and everyday objects. Greeland is also interested in the manipulation of narrative as well as oppositions – authentic and artificial, real and fabricated – stressing that it is important to investigate both sides of anything that interests him and explore the possibilities presented by both sides.
That’s what makes his objects all the more potent.
