CERCA SERIES: WENDELL GLADSTONE

MCASD DOWNTOWN DECEMBER 4 2003 - JANUARY 18, 2004



WENDELL GLADSTONE: FIGHTS LEAD TO STRIPES, IMAGE COURTESY OF THE ARTIST, ROBERTS AND TILTON GALLERY, AND KRAVETS/WEHBY GALLERY..


Los Angeles artist Wendell Gladstone will uses the Cerca Series to explore the interaction between abstract sculpture and figurative painting. His quirky canvases will hang behind stark Minimalist sculptures, bringing the narrative content of the paintings into three dimensions. The project may sound formal, but the pompons and necklaces hanging off the LeWitt-like sculptures reveal Gladstone's intentionally humorous approach. Likewise, the paintings' cartoon-like tale-the misadventures of a mermaid, three French sailors, a monsoon, and ghosts-dispels overly serious interpretation.
Gladstone's work falls in line with a strong tendency in contemporary Los Angeles art
making. Inspired in part by influential local figures such as Liz Larner and Charles Ray, a new generation of young artists is creating sculptural works that combine formal rigor with an irreverent, playful sensibility.
Gladstone graduated with an MFA from Claremont University in 1998. This is his first solo museum exhibition. Cerca Series: Wendell Gladstone is made possible by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture.
.