Concrete Jungle To Marble Casts

Sculpture Center

By Andrew moesel

Getting Started

The work of Ayse Erkmen will soon be on display at the Sculpture Center.

Walking down Purves Street, a short, dead-end outshoot off Jackson Avenue, it sometimes can be difficult to tell the Sculpture Center apart from the construction companies that line both sides of the road. While putting in an installation, for example, burly men with work gloves chuck plaster from outside the huge open doors of the gallery’s industrial space; trucks come and go; wine and cheese are nowhere in sight.

But a visitor’s eye will soon be drawn to the high steel and glass fence that seems a little out of place on this otherwise blue-collar alley. And when one finally finds the gallery, they’ll get to view some of the most striking and cutting edge sculpture in the art world.

Digging In

Originally called “The Clay Club,” the Sculpture Center started in 1928 as a small group of artists working in Manhattan. It took its current name in the 1940s and moved into a carriage house on 69th Street, where it remained for more than 50 years. Over that time, it became a respected part of New York’s cultural community and opened a swath of artistic and educational programs.

So why did the organization jump across the East River and leave the historically arty shores of Manhattan? In a word: space.

Its current confines, a former trolley repair shop purchased in 2001, has more than 6,000 square feet of interior exhibition space, offices, a work studio and living space for visiting artists. Since every good sculpture gallery needs a little room outside, the location also provides 3,000 square feet of outdoor exhibition space, bordered by the aforementioned glass fence.

As part of its ongoing mission to draw the world’s best experimental and contemporary sculptors, the center has invited internationally acclaimed artist Ayse Erkmen to work in the studios during the fall. Beginning Sept. 10, the center will display an original installation designed for the Long Island City venue, which will be open to the public until Nov. 27.

Born in Istanbul and currently living in Berlin, Erkmen will create her first exhibition in the United States at the Sculpture Center. She has already gained praise in Europe for transforming existing architectural structures in new and interesting ways.

When working indoors, Erkmen does not construct additional freestanding sculptures, but instead she draws from objects already in a certain environment and alters them to provoke a viewer into interacting with the space from a unique perspective.

On tap for the Sculpture Center? Erkmen plans to use the facility’s gantry crane to move strands of fabric, creating vertical and horizontal colored planes and change the atmosphere of the room.

Finishing Up

Running simultaneously with Erkmen’s show will be a special project series called “In Practice,” which takes unsolicited works from up-and-coming artists and gives them a venue to display their art. The projects incorporate several different mediums, including objects, installations, dance and artwork. This year marks the sixth installment of the series.

And if you want to spend some time outside, the center also will offer “A Walk in the Park,” an exhibition of sculptures and photographs that seeks to explore the point where nature meets the man-made. Billed as a “breezy place of quiet contemplation,” the exhibit should be a good respite for visitors still pondering the meaning of the more heady works inside.

Sculpture Center
44-19 Purves Street
(off Jackson Avenue)
(718) 361-1750
www.sculpture-center.org

11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Thu.-Sun.

Admission is by suggested donation.