Polly Apfelbaum

Polly Apfelbaum is included in the group exhibition titled Spieltrieb at Jack Hanley Gallery, New York.

Group exhibition Spieltrieb at Jack Hanley Gallery, New York. 

Jack Hanley Gallery is excited to present Spieltrieb, a group exhibition featuring works by Polly Apfelbaum, Beverly Fishman, Ryan Mrozowski and Kathleen Ryan.

Spieltrieb is a German expression that can be translated as ‘play-drive’, the ‘urge to play’ or ‘play impulse’. In ‘On the Aesthetic Education of Man’ (1794) German poet and philosopher Friedrich Schiller described Spieltrieb as the ideal union of Formtrieb (the form impulse) and Stofftrieb (the sense impulse). In his theory, the sense impulse equals life whereas the form impulse equates with shape and therefore denotes the object of Spieltrieb as the living shape which for him is synonymous with beauty. All works in the show combine these components, formal and sensuous, with a game element, a playfulness, inviting viewers to engage with their associations.

In Kathleen Ryan’s sculpture, unyielding materials undulate on the gallery’s floor, calling to mind a shiny beaded necklace comprised of chains connecting heavy bowling balls. The object’s past becomes visible through their owner’s engraved names and finger holes. In a play with levity and gravity, industrial materials and elegance, Ryan merges contrasts in formal sensuality. A similar play with opposites becomes evident in the works of Beverly Fishman. The titles of her wall reliefs ‘Untitled (a+b)’ and ‘Untitled (double/pain)’ reveal a formula to her seemingly sleek abstract compositions. Based on shapes and colors of prescription drugs and various medication like Prozac, Vicodin or Xanax, Fishman’s wall reliefs and works on paper suddenly possess a much darker quality that, despite and because of their bright colors, reference the current opioid addiction crisis.

Polly Apfelbaum’s installation of suspended terra-cotta shapes colored with textile spray is based on the American tradition of the seven-shape note system. The shape notes, a musical notation system developed in the beginning of the 19th century, has commonly been used in music schools to facilitate music notations through visual associations. Her accompanying wall-bound mount holding paint brushes with terra-cotta beads further convey the viewer’s synesthesia within an entanglement of sound, color, and shapes.

Ryan Mrozowski sculptural paintings are comprised of individually shaped and stretched frames and canvases. The individual small stretched paintings within its wooden frame are configured like a puzzle replicating photographs taken of loosely tossed and folded textiles.

Spieltrieb
Jack Hanley Gallery- New York
327 Broome St
New York, NY 10002