Art Review: "Art & The Object" at RIC's Bannister Gallery

Art Review: "Art & The Object" at RIC's Bannister Gallery

The countdown is on as we light candles and hang ornaments, but with every seasonal box that is unpacked, we sometimes forget the beauty of the objects that surround us year round rather than just at the end of December.  Perhaps it is with this in mind and the fact that so many objects have become mindlessly disposable that curator Dianne Reilly assembles artists to present an exhibition of function and design.   Many of the exhibitions that happen at Bannister Gallery serve more than one purpose and this is also the case with Art & The Object. Dianne Reilly serves as a member of the metal-smithing and jewelry-making faculty and this show gives the art department students as well as the rest of the community is an opportunity to see true contemporary design in Providence.

It is clear looking at the work of these eight artists that they derive much pleasure and success from working with their hands to create objects with a suggested innate function, such as hammers, platters, and spoons, but they also create variations of common everyday objects that had a rich history before they became massively produced in factories by machines.  The artisanship is seen in the whimsical collection of tools called Hammer Group by Sue Aygarn-Kowalski.  Even though upon further examination her tools might not be as utilitarian as a hammer from True Value, they are still exotic and beautiful.  This is also true for the work of Curtis LaFollette whose knives and forks in the exhibition could certainly be used to eat a Christmas turkey, but somehow they appear difficult to hold.  LaFollette’s sugar and cream dispensers are more like small delicate sculptures rather than something that would be set out on the counter as the morning coffee brews.   

A stand out artist in a room of mostly small silver objects is Boris Bally.  Bally’s body of work is undoubtedly colorfully sustainable, but somehow his work never feels recycled in nature.  He too creates serving utensils that look like they belong at the table of Bob Dudley, BP’s chief executive officer since the utensils look more like oilrigs.  I swore that I had seen the work of Joost During in the gift shop at the RISD museum, but after a phone call to the museum shop, I must was mistaken.  Even though the work is beautifully crafted, it does not take the same level of risk in design as some of the other objects in the exhibit.  For at one end, there might be During and at the opposite end is the work of Japanese artist, Shingo Furukawa who leans towards design as conceptual with her question mark teapot that despite being able to brew a cup of tea, may not be the best choice for any use.          

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The greatest success of this exhibit is the fact that while you are in a room full of shiny objects, you are also in a room full of recognizable items from our own homes that have emerged from a cocoon or rather the artist’s studio to take on a different shape and purpose.  The large and growing world of design still remains grounded in fine art as each of these skilled artists experiments with the limitations of redefining art and the object.  

Art & The Object, through Jan 11 at Rhode Island College - Roberts Hall, 124 600 Mt. Pleasant Ave. Providence, Tuesday - Friday, 12:00 pm - 8:00 pm, Monday, Weekends &, Holidays - Closed

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