Curated by independent curator Emily Markert, Assembled Overtime featured the work of William Eric Brown, Jennifer Dalton, Rodney Durso, and Hanna Washburn, four artists whose studio practices vary widely but who all embrace durational modes of art making, whether through long-term research or unhurried material investigations. These literal and conceptual accumulations reveal themselves to varying degrees in the work on view, ranging from legibly collaged mixed media works to sculptural objects that collapse time in formally subtle ways. In an almost archival gesture, looking to the past while considering the future, all four artists share an interest in integrating existing materials, such as fabric, magazines, and photographs, into their process-driven practices, often repurposing them to create new, hybrid objects. While time is a through line between these works, the West Chelsea Building, in which they are situated, bears its own timestamp.
The fate of this storied home to artists’ studios and galleries remains unknown at the time of writing; will someone act before it is sold to a potentially inhospitable new owner? As the residue of past exhibitions and tenants mingles here with these works, each ascribed with layers of personal history and labor, Assembled Overtime offers ways to relate to the past, the present, and, ultimately, to each other.
This show featured Rodney’s ‘Black Flower View’: A visceral piece of ravishing color made of acrylic pain and mixed media on paper.