Re Jin Lee, 2024
On the Grounds 2024 is the fourth in an annual series of outdoor exhibitions in the landscape surrounding Al Held’s studio complex, organized by River Valley Arts Collective. The exhibition includes the work of four artists—Natalia Arbelaez, Nicole Cherubini, Re Jin Lee, and Katy Schimert—who are each presenting multi-part installations curated by Alyson Baker. Although conceived and presented as discrete, independent projects, they are united by material, context, and distinct interpretations of what can be considered totems.
Each artist takes a different approach to working with clay. Arbelaez invokes ancient Colombian imagery and materiality to link past and present. Cherubini’s birdhouse and seating cubes invite the participation of nature and people. Lee’s primal forms synthesize varied formal influences including modern architecture and the Korean alphabet. Schimert compresses the sublime of a waterfall into a compact abstraction. For the exhibition, these brilliant artists actively engage features of the natural and built environment, collaborate with the plants and animal life that inhabit the property, and employ site lines and visual relationships that enhance their particular meaning and convey specific intent. As objects crafted by artists within a landscape created by an artist, the sculptures exist as iconic and highly evocative symbolic structures in conversation with the site.
Free public tours of the Al Held Foundation and on-site exhibitions on August 19, September 8, September 23, and October 13. RSVP required. Please register here.