Obtuse Angler
press release
November 16th to December 8th
With fishing lures, paintings and furniture, “Obtuse Angler,” William Sieruta’s first New York solo show, invites the viewer to feel at home in the art space. That being said, seventy percent of all fatal accidents occur at home.
Fluent in both painting and sculptural language, Sieruta uses the accoutrements of leisure–in this case fishing– to investigate form. His angling lures, geometric forms made of painted wood, invite the viewer in to look and to play, like children’s wood blocks. Their aesthetic is endearing, reminiscent of some imagined golden age.
Yet these alluring sculptures also sprout sharp fishing hooks in preposterous number and position. Sieruta’s objects, barbed and sublime, have armed themselves; no longer do they need a distancing “art” concept to keep viewers at a distance. As humorous symbols of the time and money spent in play, these lures, in Sieruta’s hands, are prickly, even dangerous, capable of puncturing inflated egos and agendas. The artist embraces the pleasure of production while literally and figuratively poking at it.
