Date: Fri 24-Sep-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: MELISS

Quick Words:

Averbuch-Hoffman

Full Text:

Sculptures And Drawings By Ilan Averbuch At Nancy Hoffman Gallery October 2-30

(with cut)

NEW YORK CITY -- Ilan Averbuch, the Israeli-born sculptor and draughtsman who

lives and works in New York City, is exhibiting seven sculptures in three

groups, along with collateral drawings, at the Nancy Hoffman Gallery from

October 2 through 30. An opening reception will be held Friday, October 1 from

5 to 7 pm. Since the early 1980s his work has been exhibited regularly in the

United States, in Europe and India.

One group of the seven sculptures at the Nancy Hoffman Gallery consists of two

large hands, 3 feet by 10 feet by 6 feet. The first, "Lost at Sea," is

constructed and carved in wood; the second, "Jerusalem," is made of copper

sheets that were hammered onto the first wooden hand, then cut in two halves,

removed and welded together, thus reproducing the first hand in an entirely

different material.

The second grouping presents two larger sculptures, titled "Narcissus and the

Desire to Fly" and "In the End of Utopia," both made of wood, glass and stone.

They refer to flying instruments, dreams and utopian desires, while the

materials and forms suggest a different reality, perhaps monumental, but

fragile and tentative.

The third group offers three stone tables, each made with a slab of granite

with wooden legs. The three images form a trilogy of three metaphoric stages

in the human condition. The intimacy of the places and their smaller scale

create a completely opposite experience from that of the larger works in the

exhibition.

The installation of four large sculptures, titled "The Forest," will occupy

its own gallery at the Cologne Art Fair in Germany, November 7 to 14. It

consists of four steel and glass columns. The entire installation deals with

three interwoven systems that form a tight image. The steel and glass columns

represent the language of modernity. The inscriptions on the glass represent

the written word, and the archetypal "capitals" are monumentalized and removed

to unreachable heights.

Lavon, a new, high technology town in the Galilee, commissioned this piece,

titled "Divided World," to be installed in the central intersection at the

entrance to the town in December.

"Divided World" is a massive sculptural complex with a delicate balance of

materials, form and references. The complex can be experienced

three-dimensionally: one can cross under the enormous arch or climb the stairs

to look at the sculpture and the spectacular surroundings of the Galilee.

The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday 10 am to 6 pm. For more information

call 212/966-6676.