DEFYING GRAVITY
DEFYING GRAVITY, an Installation for Cassina
Many of my paintings are intended for installations. This is the one I developed for Cassina, a high-end Italian design space in SOHO New York. It's a space of about 5,000 square feet with high ceilings and walls that span over 35 feet. When I was invited to exhibit my work I was inspired by the space that I chose to create a site-specific installation. Having no floor plans available, I measured out the space. Taking into consideration that this was a showroom open to the public, I did not design work to put on the floor, as I often do in my Ara Pacis series. The ceilings have a variety of piping, so work could not be mounted on the ceilings. All the installation pieces were flat and mounted directly on the wall.
These images will take you from the front entrance, with a 37 foot wall on the right and a backlit glass wall on the left, to the landing at the top of the stairs. The installation opened up the this already monumental space. Groupings of two, three, or more paintings appeared to exist in a boundless space, activating entire walls. On-site November-December 2011.