Even from the sidewalk, it is excessively clear that a new, sprawling, elegant exhibition has moved into downtown’s Contemporary Arts Center (CAC). Kaplan Hall has been hung with a looming nimbus form made from thousands of white Styrofoam cups and backlit with a soft glow. This and two other floors have been turned over to Tara Donovan’s immense, organic sculptures.
Her work is characterized by the accumulation and arrangement of simple, vernacular materials such as clear drinking straws, paper plates or toothpicks at such a scale that they function organically in response to the more rigid architecture around them. In nearly every piece, an optical phenomenon happens where the brightness of the most external edges of a material plays against the shaded, deeper cavities. As you move around the objects, this interplay of reflection and shadow, surface and depth, travels with your gaze.
It is a weird, totally compelling experience. Read more about Matt Morris’ review here.
This article appears in Feb 11-17, 2009.
