Installation view of They Consume Each Other (2018-2021), photo: Ian Byers-Gamber
May 17, 2022
By Genie Davis
Max Colby: Revival, through June 4th at the Shoshana Wayne Gallery, is a mixed media explosion of color and materials, dimensional rainbows of sculptural works.
The show features two separate series, with perhaps the standout being “They Consume Each Other,” an instillation of 42 sculptures seated on ornamental glass plinths. Exuberant in palette and bursting with flowers, feathers, and beads, individually they would be involving, over-the-top but lovely works. Compiled, they are an extravaganza of textures and shades, reminiscent in their own way of the fragile extravagance of Fabergé eggs.
The display is reverential, as the pieces are positioned as if on an altar of sorts. While many of the materials used are not those usually considered a part of a fine art exhibition, her montage-like use in clustered decadence elevates them. Unsurprisingly, they are highly textile, richly textured, and go beyond the conventional sculptural form. Some are egg shaped, some shaped like fat pickles or dildos.
In a separate gallery, the “Shrouds” series is darker in tone, if not necessarily in aesthetics. The work in both series references body image as well as worldly values, prejudices, and presumptions.
