FRIEZE LOS ANGELES 2023
Baert Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of ceramic sculptures by Sophie Wahlquist at Frieze Los Angeles 2023.
Sophie Wahlquist’s presentation for Frieze LA imagines Baert Gallery’s Focus booth as a garden out of time—or perhaps an oasis born of an alternative evolutionary timeline, suspended somewhere between the worlds of botany, Deviantart, and Jorge Luis Borges’ Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius. Here, the order and logic of the Humanist tradition and the Anthropocentric solipsism are jettisoned in favor of the spontaneous creativity and boundlessly collaborative eclecticism native to nature.
The booth takes the form of an immersive environment containing several live fountain sculptures and an assemblage of hanging light fixtures. Each of the works, conceived specifically for this presentation, draws inspiration from the inherent complexity of biomorphic shapes, creating intricately layered, emphatically asymmetrical organic surfaces that, akin to archeological sites, invite exploration and excavation.
In this way, the minute details of sculpting can be found hidden on the inside surface of the seemingly smooth light shades—hidden facets of nature that are both mesmerizing and terrifying, repellant and exquisite at the same time. These concealed elements of meticulous craftsmanship are further obscured from immediate detection by the incorporation of the hand-painted fabric element that here evokes by turns a spiderweb, a morning mist, or a veil—a sensual element that remains in motion constantly morphing the sculpture’s aspect in organic interaction with the flow of viewers in and around the booth while drawing the energy upwards.
Similarly, the gentle vibration and organic motion provided by the circular flow of water through the fountain sculptures invoke the idea of ungraspable volume while simultaneously referencing an inward journey via the notion of water as the shamanistic High Mirror for the soul. Toying with the quintessential parameters of the medium of sculpture, these pieces’ full constellation of sumptuous colors and textures can never be seen in its entirety from any one perspective, requiring a viewer to circle the works in discovering the succeeding strata of new elements emerging at every turn.
Sophie Wahlquist (b.1983, Germany. Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA) received a BFA from Parsons The New School for Design. Recent exhibitions include Baert Gallery, Los Angeles; Parlour Gallery, London; SPRING/BREAK Art Show, Los Angeles; and the Kellogg Doolittle House, Joshua Tree, CA. Wahlquist work is included in the Zabludowicz Collection and a number of important European and American private collections.
