Gillian Christy Preston: Waves of Grain: A New Sculpture Exhibit in Boston Creates Rural Art with Industrial Material

Great write up on Gillian Christy Preston upcoming gallery show by Dave Eisenberg on BostInno (below). There is a little preview video at the end not to be missed.  Exhibition dates September 5 - October 7, 2012

August 30th, 2012 by Dave EisenbergPosted in A&E, boston sculptor's gallery, waves of grain

When we think of metal, we think of extremes. It’s either cold or piping hot. It’s either jagged or smooth. The one definitive characteristic of metal, it seems, is that it’s industrial. We don’t often think of sweeping rural landscapes and soft breezes pushing and pulling at blades of grass in a Midwestern country side when we think of metal. But when local sculptor Gillian Christy showcases Waves of Grain, her first Boston exhibition, which will be at theBoston Sculptors Gallery in the SOWA district from September 5 to October 7, spectators will get a taste of rural life in her metallic work.

“I’m originally from Iowa,” she said. “This Midwest imagery is something that I’ve always kind of reminisced about, while thinking about home and where I came from. When I think of home, I think of something warm and soft so I’m constantly thinking of that dynamic as well.”

Of course, there’s the dichotomy between gender and subject here as well. Metal just inherently is something we deem almost masculine as a fabric, much the way we might deem satin feminine.

“You know, obviously I’m a woman, so the idea of treating metal with this kind of genteel feminine quality, is something that has this nice parallel. How do you make something cold and hard into something warm?”

She hasn’t posted photographs of the work that will be featured, though she hinted that one piece (every pice as a whole will be at least 8 feet high or wide) will be of an upside down grain bin with paper floating around it, as well as one with 640 blades of metallic grass, a play on movement.

“There’s a lot of repetition but this kind of energetic movement of metal that you don’t normally see when you think of sculptures,” she added.

Her studio is in Rhode Island for now, but as she’s been living in Boston for a while, she’s looking to find a new art space to call home in the Hub as well.

While this is her first exhibition in Boston, you very well may have seen work before and not even known it. She’s created work for the NFL on CBS, as well as the W Hotel. And as a new member of the Boston Sculptors Gallery, she won’t soon go away, as members provide exhibitions every two years.

“An exhibition every two years, that’s a commitment, that’s making a lot of work,” she said. “You know, I’ve had success in the public art world and I was ready to make something that fit in the gallery… It’s just different type of work.”

Check out some of her art here, and scope the video below to see her at work as preview of her SOWA debut.

Gillian Christy on Daniel Buren and the Rodin Museum, France

I recently returned from a 12 day trip to Paris, France. I have been fortunate enough to have travelled to Paris before, however, both trips were during the cold month of January. With this trip, it was really nice to enjoy the city and parks during the full bloom of spring. A more detailed account of my trip can be found at http://gillianchristy.tumblr.com/

My favorite public artwork was discovered in the courtyard fo the Palais Royal. The installation was completed in 1986 by Daniel Buren, entitled Les Deux Plateau" or as it is often referred to "Buren's Columns".

Kids were playing, running and jumping from column to column. People were seated in groups around shorter columns or simply walking through the active space. The columns at varying heights, decorated with the stripe, simply encourage play and sort of appear to be playing themselves like a game of "now you see it, now you don't"....It is obvious that the materials were chosen with care, they looked clean, new and well cared for. It is also evident that the whole space was meticulously designed and masterfully crafted.

The trip also marked ny first time to the Rodin Museum. It was a beautiful day to enjoy the collection and relax in the garden. The "Rodin and the Decorative Arts Exhibition" on view through August 22, 2010 piqued my interest to learn more about Rodin and the chronology of his life. Rodin certainly makes a strong case for working with the human form as subject matter as well as being open to working with new materials. Seeing his body of work made me interested in redicovering plaster, stone and terracotta.

Find out more on Gillian Christy at http://www.gillianchristy.com/