Jeremy Comins: RECENT WORK
October 6 - November 5, 2005Jeremy Comins’ recent wood sculpture continues to express the artist’s ongoing interest in organic forms and human psychological states. Finely crafted, the artist uses a variety of different kinds of wood. Although Comins begins with sketches and certain preconceptions about where a piece will go, there are always points of improvisation and detours from original plans. As a result, there is a constant dialogue between the Dionysian (spontaneous) and Apollonian (controlled) impulses guiding his work.
Many of his sculptures illustrate, or at least symbolize, the conflicts between these opposing forces in the mind. The inner workings of both the physical world and the human psyche underpin much of his work. Much like dreams or altered states, Comins’ works bring question to things and their simulacra, reality and illusion, presence and absence. Comins’ wood sculptures have a surreal quality with Rene Magritte and the author Jorge Luis Borges – creating a metaphor of life or a riddle, and remain elegantly refined in their craftsmanship.
It could be said that his work seduces with material and craftsmanship but arrests with psychologically driven narratives. This current show demonstrates the breadth of his psychological investigation as well as the variety of materials and attention to craft.
Jeremy Comins has had solo exhibitions at Mari Gallery, Bodley Gallery and Roko Gallery in New York, as well as the Staten Island Museum, NY. Some of his group exhibitions include: the Silvermine Guild, CT; the National Academy of Design, NY; Wharton Esherick Museum, King of Prussia, PA; Lehman College, NY; Gallery at Lincoln Center, NY; National Arts Club, NY; Salmagundi Club, NY; Museum of Modern Art, NY; Katonah Museum, Katonah, NY; Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA, among others. His work has been featured in Woodwork magazine and he has authored and illustrated several books including: Getting Started in African Crafts, Latin American Crafts and Their Cultural Background, Art from Found Objects, Eskimo Crafts and Their Cultural Backgrounds, Totems, Decoys and Covered Wagons, Slotted Sculpture, Chinese and Japanese Crafts and Their Cultural Backgrounds, Vans to Build from Cardboard. Comins has received several awards and honors including: Harry Ballinger Memorial Award, 2002, Hannibal Debellis Sculpture Award, 2001, Graham Gallery Sculpture Award, 2000, Philip Isenberg Memorial Award, 1999, ASCA Contemporary Art Award, Richman Sculpture Award and the Henry Nordhausen Memorial Award for Photography in 1998. Others awards include the Elliot Liskin Memorial Award.
Denise Bibro Fine Art, New York, NY exclusively represents Jeremy Comins.
There will be a reception for the artist on Thursday, October 6, 2005 from 6 – 8 pm.