Upon entering the Amelie A. Wallace Gallery at SUNY Old Westbury, your mind is exposed to a world of intelligent lighting, raw materials and odd fixtures. The “Dreamcatchers” sculpture exhibit celebrates the dedicated work of two foreign artists, Hyong Nam Ahn of Korea and Arthur Simms of Jamaica. Each artist manages to portray a certain struggle within their sculptures based on personal experiences and life values. Nevertheless, each artist explained why some of the materials, which may seem odd to some, were used the way that they were. The “Dreamcatchers” exhibit has a great setting with an open floor plan, which ranges from three different levels, giving students the opportunity to compare and contrast the different art pieces without clutter.
Gallery curator, Hyewon Yi, gave a little background information on each artist at the exhibition opening. She introduced her first guest, Arthur Simms, who comes from Jamaica and is known for his “garbage picking” abilities further seen in his artwork. At first glance, you think junk, which indeed it is, however Simms uses hard materials such as wood, metal, and glass to enhance every single one of his art pieces. Furthermore, it’s interesting how Simms is able to tie in cross-cultural references into his structures. For example, he highlights diversity within his piece titled Bicycle (1995), a wire-bound structure of several bikes, various license plates, bottles, plastic bags, different wheels and oddly enough, an old outdoor toilet bin. Simms mentions that while most critics found Bicycle to be abnormal and ugly, he accepts such criticism as a compliment. Simms also adds that “ugly is a strong emotion” and speaking about the art, whether it be a positive or a negative, is still putting his work in the spotlight.
It is very evident that Simms is a compulsive junk collector who has a strong vision for the so-called “treasures” that he encounters. The use of wire and rope to bind his subjects together creates a sense of unity. The use of glass is supposed to suggest protection to fight off evil. Lastly, the various license plates represent different travels and possibly different struggles. Overall, Simms is able to convey free association. He also has an ability to improvise by using a wide span of imagination and a whole lot of time wrapping things up in rope.
The second half of the exhibition is a more visual and let’s say, neater aspect of art. Korean born artist, Hyong Nam Ahn offers his viewers a collection of a larger magnitude and perhaps, more intricately designed structures. It is very clear than Hyong enjoys working together with light, color and especially size. His three-piece sequence recognized as For Whom (2011), signifies a series of life and death in what he calls Acts I, II and III. The beginning, or first act, entitled Power Play, is about young blood and dying for your country, and uses the color yellow to signify purity. Fallen Wing (Act II) portrays a darker sense of martyrdom using blue and red for an individual who has “lost a wing in the struggle” of fighting for one’s country (Yi, p. 2). Finally, Act III – Shattered Blood, Flash and Born, in which the martyr has experienced blood shed (red neon lights reflected on the ground), and although this is the final movement, there is no real conclusion as Hyong might say.
In all, Hyong’s most stimulating piece may be the Ascending Soul, his largest structure communicating his deepest, most sorrowful goodbye to his father-in-law. This piece looks like a crash landing right before your eyes. It represents death, like his other structures, however Ascending Soul doesn’t give off such a sense of darkness and mourning, but rather enlightenment and the celebration of the circle of life.
I really appreciate Hyong’s work for the simple fact that he chooses realism and personal experience and sheds light on major world issues. The way he uses pops of color to enhance the art piece makes it more mysterious. Hyong’s art is simple, with a twist and I can fully relate to the emotions he portrays through his art sculptures.