CAROL BOVE: THE PLASTIC UNIT │ David Zwirner, London → 30 May 2015

“David Zvirnr z plizd t priznt ɖ gaḷri’z frst xibišn wɖ Caṛl Bov. On vy at âr Lundn lcešn, it fīčrz rīsnt wrcs bî ɖ Ny Ywc-bêst ātist, nôn fr hr simpl yt intric̣t asmblijz v fând n md objcts.

Ɖ Plastc Ynit grūps tgɖr lj-scêl sculpčrz md fṛm načṛl n industrı̣l mtirı̣lz, includñ slicli manyfacčrd stênls-stīl glifs, intric̣t metlcrtnz, Î-bīm strucčrz, stīl n concrit peḍstlz, šelz, n pīcocfeɖrz. In lîn wɖ Bov’z brwdr practis, ɖe r plêst in cerfl rlešn bʈ t wn anɖr n t ɖ gaḷrīspês, wɖ for wrcs asînd t č rūm.

On ɖ grândflor, Secnd Cātīžn Sculpčr—an xpansv stīl net—dvîdz ɖ fruntspês intu tu īql fīldz, ɖus crietñ a si-ʈru seṗrešn btwn ɖ uɖr sculpčrz. Wn v ɖz, a stīl Î-bīm coḷm ṣpwtñ a hymn-sîzd pìs v petrifîd wŭd, adz a sens v inditrminbl temṗraḷti t ɖ insṭlešn, n az sč riinfwsz Bov’z undrstandñ v sculpčr az dyrešnl. Hr concrīt peḍstl wɖ bras kbz blrz ɖ definišnz v sculpčr n bês, n apirz a slfconšs rspons t moḍnist dsplemeʈdz. Its tîtl, I, quartz pyx, who fling muck beds, z wn v ɖ fy sentnsz evr cnstructd t includ ol letrz v ɖ alfbet jst wns (wɖ ɖ lîsns v substitytñ I fr J, n U fr V).

For crušt glifs in ɖ ajesnt rūm r prizntd on a lo peḍstl ɖt cuvrz most v ɖ flor. In a dpāčr fṛm prīvı̣s wrc, n in contrast t ɖer rândd, ẇît cântrpāts, ɖ glifs r brîtli culrd n ireğlrli šêpt, apirñ flexbl dspt ɖer stīl mtiriaḷti. Distnst fṛm ɖ vywr bî ɖ peḍstl, ɖe apir lîc fwml xsîzz in ātistc stîl, bt ɖer vižl prezns z contṛdictd bî ɖ tîtl v ɖ arenjmnt—Slftwc—ɖt čaḷnjz ɖ abiḷti t aproč wrcs wɖt prīcnsivd nošnz or an inr výs. Bov pozits hr glifs in daylog wɖ public sculpčr or so-cwld plopāt, ẇr indivijl wrcs’ naṛtvz ofn c̣lud wɖ ɖer setñz or rmen obskr, ɖus mcñ ɖm apir ât v plês n īvn iṇproprı̣t. Az a glif tipicli rfrz t a simbl wɖn a gvn contxt, fr xampl a letr wɖn ɖ alfbet, Bov’z sculpčrz apir lîc sxñt fragmnts v a brwdr siḷbl ɖt olso têcs intu cnsiḍrešn ɖ activti v crietñ ɖ wrcs.

A ẇît, tybylr glif z pāt v an arenjmnt on a wîd peḍstl in ɖ upsterz gaḷri—ɖ sîz v ɖ crtn ḅlo it—ẇč olso cmprîzz a šel n feɖr sculpčr on its ôn peḍstl, an Î-bīm wɖ driftwŭd, n a silvr crtn. Tenz v ʈâzndz v sml bīdz criet a sutl patn v trîanglz acrs ɖ čênz v ɖ latr, bt ɖ intnsli handcraftd wrc z olmst invizbl fṛm sm vywñ pspctvz, agn drōñ atnšn t šiftñ mīnñz n ābtrri intrpṛtešnz.

Ɖ for sculpčrz in ɖ nebrñ rūm r arenjd drctli on ɖ flor, ineblñ vywrz t wōc amñst ɖm n lc wɖ ɖ bodi, az Bov pts it, rɖr ɖn hvñ t pṛjct wnslf intu a spês, az dīmācetd bî hr peḍstlz. Lîc Secnd Cātīžn Sculpčr, a lj stīl strucčr cwld Ôpn Scrīn dvîdz spês ẇl mntenñ ôpn vyz v bʈ sîdz, ɖs tîm wɖt ɖ gridd net. Its jı̣mtric pṛpwšnz contrast wɖ Srclz, a redwŭd brl ʈru ẇč Bov hz insrtd tu stīl pîps, mirrñ ɖ imprint v ɖ fizicl ṣpwt yzd t craft hr concrīt wrcs. Anɖr sculpčr z an arenjmnt v stīl Î-bīmz ɖt fwmd pāt v Caṭpilr fṛm 2013, ɖ ātist’s insṭlešn on ɖ ɖen unfiništ pāt v ɖ Hî Lîn pāc in Ny Ywc. Tîtld Câ Wočt Bî Āgs, its šêp cn vêgli b sīn az fiğṛtv, aludñ t ɖ yuñ wmn metmwfozd intu a câ bî Zūs in an atmt t hîd a luṿfer fṛm Hira. Stl sceptcl, ɖ latr haird ɖ hundṛd-îd Āgs t woč ɖ animl, bt h wz cild on Zūs’z rqst. Hira subṣqntli tc hiz îz n sôd ɖm ontu ɖ teil v hr fevrit brd, ɖ pīcoc.

In ɖ ʈrd-flor gaḷri, Bov priznts for canvsz arenjd tgɖr n cuvrd intîrli in pīcoc feɖrz, crietñ a cntinys, olmst diziyñ comṗzišn. Ɖ feɖrz’ ynīc cncuṛns v ōṇmnt n funẋn z incântrd in sm v Bov’z uɖr sculpčrz on vy in ɖ xibišn, rcwlñ ɖ blrd bândriz btwn ɖ pḍstl n its objct n ɖ dyl funẋn v ɖ Î-bīmz az ṣpwt n sculpčr.

Born in 1971 in Jnīva t Americn pẹrnts, Caṛl Bov wz rezd in Bācli, Califwňa n studid at Ny Ywc Ynivrsti.

In 2014, Bov dêbyd a ny bodi v wrc alñsd xibišndizînz n sculpčrz bî Itałn ācitect Cālo Scāpa. Caṛl Bov/Cālo Scāpa z kretd bî ɖ Henri Mur Instityt in Līdz, Ñgḷnd n pṛdyst in c̣laḅrešn wɖ Museion, Bolzano, Iṭli n Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Beljm. Côinsîdñ wɖ ɖ Zvirnr prezntešn in Lundn, ɖ šo z on vy at ɖ Henri Mur Instityt fṛm Êpṛl 2 ʈru Jlî 12, 2015. It wz frst hôsted bî Museion (Nvmbr 2014 – Māč 2015) n wl travl t Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens (Octobr 2015 – Jaňri 2016).

Bov’s wrc hz bn ɖ subjct v sôlo xibišnz at prominnt instityšnz ɖt includ Ɖ Myziym v Modn Āt, Ny Ywc; Hî Lîn at ɖ Rêlyādz, Ny Ywc; Ɖ Comn Guild, Glazgo (ol 2013); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2010); Hwticulčṛl Ssayti v Ny Ywc (2009); Blantn Myziym v Āt, Ostin, Texs (2006); Kunsthalle Zŭrih; Instityt v Cntmprri Āt, Bostn (bʈ 2004); n Kunstverein Hambrg (2003). Mêjr grūpexibišnz includ Dokmenta 13, Kassel, Jrṃni (2012); 54^ʈ Venis Bienāle (2011); n ɖ Ẇitni Bîeňl, Ẇitni Myziym v Americn Āt, Ny Ywc (2008).

Wrc bî ɖ ātist z reprizntd in prmnnt c̣lẋnz wrldwîd, includñ ɖ Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain (FRAC) Nord-Pas de Calais, Duncrc, Frans; Ɖ Myziym v Modn Āt, Ny Ywc; Prinstn Ynivrsti Ātmyziym, Ny Jrzi; Wodswrʈ Aʈneum Myziym v Āt, Hātfd, Cnetic̣t; n ɖ Yêl Ynivrsti Ātgaḷri, Ny Hêvn, Cnetic̣t. Š livz n wrcs in Brŭclin, Ny Ywc.”

Noodle, 2015, stainless steel and urethane paint

Circles, 2015. Photograph: EPW Studio

Coral Sculpture (2008), in the foreground, and Heraclitus (2014). Photograph: Private Collection, courtesy of Marc Jancou Contemporary, New York/Henry Moore Institute