CHELSEA ART: The New Thirty-Something Block ... - ARTisSpectrum

Andrew CooperNelida KalanjBetween a Rock and a Place Print 60”x 36”The apportionment of space and time are predominant factorsin our ‘being’ and the disruption of these foundations impelsus to question and seek to substantiate our presumed reference.”Through the use of mind-bending sculptural installations,Andrew Cooper explores how the interplay of time and space affectsour understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Hetackles where reality begins and ends, and when illusion takesover our senses. The skewed perspectives of his concept art challengeour rationality and, in doing so, confront our preconceivednotions of Truth. Cooper thereby impels us to examine not justour physical certainties, but also our socio-political discernment.Having worked as a designer for public architecturalworks, Cooper grounds his installation art in firm lines, borders,and boxes. They exist as quarters to contain and realms to escape.Although the order provokes a feeling of confinement,intentional distortions suggest that there is always a way out ifone is imaginative.Increasingly, Cooper has turned to the human form inhis art. The sculptures of people lend a more naturalistic aspectto his art. Although mainly monochromatic and rigid, the peoplehelp to create a narrative in their placement and poses. More so,they reflect our place in society.The British artist’s work is a study of stark contrasts.Mainly working in a palette of black and white, he scrutinizestime and space; reality and illusion; physical and psychological;right and wrong; nature and technology; and public and private.Film, literature, music, and travel factor into Andrew Cooper’sthought-provoking installations.Website: http://www.andrewcooper-ma.co.ukIn her pastel “Nymph in Movement,” the Croatian artistNelida Kalanj creates a faceless woman entangled in rootsor other sinewy connectors that resemble, overall, an intricateneural network. Yet the union between the woman and her surroundingsis seamless; the roots are a part or extension of thewoman’s own body. The interconnections between humans andnature are an important sensitivity Kalanj explores in the manyworks she has undertaken over the past 25 years. In “DancingFishes,” the connection between human-made processes—inthis case, art itself—and nature is even more apparent. Carryingthe spontaneity of a sketch, it remains in the middle ofthe process of creation and at the same time is in a state ofcompletion.Public displays of Kalanj’s art have been numerous. Kalanjhas had approximately 50 solo exhibitions and many group exhibitionsthroughout Europe and the world. Her highest honormay have come during the early 1990s when, as civil war ragedin then Yugoslavia, Kalanj was called upon by the Presidencyof Croatia’s Constitutional Court to exhibit her work for a gatheringof foreign delegates. She was called upon by the presidencyof Germany’s Constitutional Court to exhibit her workunder their patronage. Kalanj lives and works in Rijeka innorthwestern Croatia, the city in which she previously studiedat the Academy of Fine Art. She is a member of the CroatianAssociation of Artists (the HDLU) and the Society of Artists inCroatia (LIKUM).Website: http://www.nelidaart.comNymph in Movement Acrylic on Canvas 30”x 40”23 ArtisSpectrum