Image above: Rashaad Newsome, Stone of Vigilance. © Rashaad Newsome, courtesy Marlborough Gallery, New York
Marlborough Gallery is presenting L.egends, S.tatement, S.tars,which includes collages and video by Rashaad Newsome. This is the second exhibition that the artist presents in Marlborough Gallery.
In L.S.S., Newsome engages this assertion of identity in a series of new collages that further explore the relationships between ornament, architecture and heraldry. The artist employs the aesthetic of Baroque cathedrals and basilicas as a point of departure directly incorporating images of these architectural elements into the work. Additionally through his engagement of architecture, Newsome activates the human form as a framing device speaking to the influences of the Roman architect Vitruvius and his concept of geometry and symmetry.
Rashaad Newsome, Di Sotto In Su, 2014, Collage, 50 x 50 x 4. © Rashaad Newsome, courtesy Marlborough Gallery, New York
Each of the seventeen collages included in L.S.S. contain three- dimensional sculptural elements on the frames and the work presented within them. In Rapture, the seven-by-six foot frame is adorned with carved anthropomorphic figures, reminiscent of gargoyles and chimera often used in medieval architecture, which overlook a three-dimensionally arranged collage. The collage curves inwards from the frame, conveying a dome-like structure ehanced by the optical illusive nature of the assemblage.
Rashaad Newsome, Turn up, 2013, Collage in customized antique frame, 61 x 47.5 x 9.5, © Rashaad Newsome, courtesy Marlborough Gallery, New York
