Gladstone is pleased to announce Marine Wildfire & Underwater Forests, an exhibition of new works by Claudia Comte, and the artist's first exhibition with the Gallery in Seoul, Korea. For the first time, the artist will present a series of relief sculptures alongside an expansive and immersive new wall painting designed specifically for the Gallery space. Through an interdisciplinary approach, Comte applies a carefully considered palette of material to create forms in space that suggest both playful and deeply political, socially engaged narratives.
Having employed the practice of sculpting with wood, and marble since the earliest moments of her career, Comte has distinguished herself as an artist with an uncanny ability to transform dense material into delicate and awe-inspiring forms. From large-scale outdoor installations to small sculptures that sit atop slender pedestals, she incisively and instinctually carves and melds the solid matter she chooses. Here, the artist presents her first foray into the ancient practice of relief sculptures, which hang on the walls of the gallery. Protruding from the smooth Carrara marble are Comte's amorphous, organic forms that resemble plants, cacti, leaves, or corals. In the artist's signature style, recurring shapes branch out widely or stand tall and alert. Inspired by a text from an English newspaper about the ongoing climate crisis, the words "EVEN CACTI CAN'T BE SAVED FROM CLIMATE CHANGE" adorn the outer frame of each work. These works appear as memorial plaques for the elements depicted, highlighting the severe danger to species and the natural world we so often take for granted. These works can be linked to ancient Egyptian, Assyrian art, depictions of leaders, and representation of fertility (Venus von Laurel) 25'000 BC.
In her new wall work, Marine Wildfire & Underwater Forests, Comte continues upon her recent exploration of paintings on walls that extend beyond single rooms. Traveling from the main level up to the second floor, the installation demonstrates the artist's continually evolving approach to creating immersive environments to showcase her art. Bold, thick, curvy lines slither up the walls, change in density and gradient from bottom to top. Appearing to relate to the air and sky, or the frequency between air and water, Comte suggests a visible compositional form for the invisible light and air waves that envelop our existence as humans and living creatures. The rhythmic, repetitive presence of this dynamic motif enlivens the space, bringing forth a visceral energy to the ecosystem Comte presents. To the choice of marble: The material itself is so old, when it has been created from nature, it is 'ancientness' that makes it immortal, to shape a form in this material transfers it into a state of immortality as opposed to using an ephemeral material that is more easily degrading.
Claudia Comte was born in 1983 in Morges, Switzerland and is currently working and living in Basel, Switzerland. Recent solo and group exhibitions include Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg (2023); LagoAlgo, Mexico City (2023); Casa Wabi, Puerto Escondido (2023); Desert X, AlUla (2022), Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich (2022), 58th October Salon - Belgrade Biennale (2022), Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid (2021), Kunstraum Dornbirn (2020); Castello di Rivoli (2019), Copenhagen Contemporary, Copenhagen (2019); MOCA Cleveland (2018); Kunsthalle Basel (2018); KölnSkulptur #9, Cologne (2017); Basement Roma (2017); Messeplatz, Art Basel (2017); Kunstmuseum Luzern (2017); Desert X, Palm Springs (2017); Public Art Fund, New York (2016); Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich (2014).
Press release courtesy Gladstone Gallery.
515 West 24th Street
New York, 10011
United States
gladstonegallery.com
+1 212 206 9300
Monday – Friday
10am – 6pm