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Installation Art

Spinning Tales (Capsule Review)

Laura Hess

• 1 min read
Spinning Tales (Capsule Review)
Against the backdrop of a white gallery wall, an enormous sculpture is suspended in air. The sculpture is also white and its assembly creates the shape of a fish, like a koi or betta fish with its draping, flared fins. The thin spaces in between the fish’s scales are illuminated from within. Off to the side a woman, blurred and in-motion, is a fraction of the size of the sculpture.
Photo: Joshua White/ Gagosian

[Original publication: No Proscenium, 7/27/21]

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Best known for his sweeping architecture, Frank Gehry’s oeuvre also includes sculptural works. Gehry’s current show at Gagosian focuses on two presentations: sculptures inspired by the “perfect form” of fish and an immersive interpretation of the Mad Hatter’s tea party from Alice in Wonderland.

Spinning Tales begins in the main gallery. Massive, internally illuminated “Fish Lamps” are suspended from the ceiling, seemingly preserved mid-swim. Amongst these are smaller, illuminated fish sculptures, skimming the currents of shredded plastic laminate. The sculptures embody the balletic tension of a fish’s form and motion so thoroughly that there’s a disarming, peripheral sense of movement, as though they pause their undulations only when looked upon directly. And, for the first time, two Fish Lamps are constructed in copper. These appear weightless and delicate, as though they’re made of the thinnest, foil membrane, one that would arch from a distant exhale.

Wishful Thinking, a reimagining of the Mad Hatter’s party, is housed in a second, upstairs gallery. A concentrated, labyrinthian installation, Wishful Thinking is comprised of colorful figures representing Lewis Carroll’s characters. Scattered around a central, candescent table, the figures are bookended by a mirror on one side and steel “tapestries” on the other; depicting the forest setting of the tea party, these tree tapestries are a transportive wonder. Spinning Tales offers a way to experience Gehry’s dynamic work on a personal scale and is well worth a visit.