For its Spring 2018 exhibition, The Brant Foundation Art Study Center will present works by Joe Bradley, Oscar Tuazon, and Michael Williams. On view May 13 through October, the exhibition will include a large-scale sculpture by Tuazon, a rare selection of Bradley’s early works, and new work by Williams. In an effort to reflect their shared aesthetic connection, all three artists will show works together in the library gallery and in separate areas throughout the Foundation’s exhibition space.
Known for his conceptual and often site-specific sculptures, Tuazon will present the single large-scale installation “Une colonne d’eau – Life prototype,” (2017). Installed in the lower gallery, the work will contribute a three-dimensional materiality and interactive dimension to both Williams’s and Bradley’s use of line. Nearly nine feet tall, Tuazon’s sculpture is comprised of sections of large diameter pipe displayed above ground, inviting visitor interaction. Engineered for use in civic-scale floodwater management and rainwater retention, the recycled thermoplastic pipes are an architecture of water made visible. This is a pipeline you can walk through, a pipeline for people to experience their bodies in relation to space, volume, and emptiness. A tree trunk cut from the Bois de Vincennes, Paris’s largest public park, is installed in the pipeline’s interior, serving as a biological indicator of the health of an ecosystem, a record of the water we all depend on.
Both Bradley and Williams are recognized for their interest in drawing, abstraction, and painterly experimentation, which grounds and visually connects their practices despite the stylistic disparities between their bodies of work. Bradley will present a large cross section of his work—including, notably, a selection of early works that have never been shown, in addition to a selection of new works that are also making their public exhibition debut. Williams will show a series of puzzle drawings and inkjet works on canvas.
The Brant Foundation Art Study Center has a mission to promote education and appreciation of contemporary art and design, by making works available to institutions and individuals for scholarly study and examination. The Brant Foundation Art Study Center presents long-term exhibitions curated primarily from the collection. The collection is remarkable in that scores of artists are represented in depth, including works from the earliest period of their practice through their most recent works. Currently, The Brant Foundation, Inc., established in 1996, lends works to more than a dozen exhibitions per year. The Brant Foundation Art Study Center is located at 941 North St., and is open Monday through Friday by appointment only.
