If you're in the Boston area anytime between now and October 17th, go to the Institute of Contemporary Art and see "CHARLES LEDRAY: workworkworkworkwork."
Quoting the ICA's website describing the show:
"For over 20 years, New York-based artist Charles LeDray has created handmade sculptures in stitched fabric, carved bone, and wheel-thrown clay. LeDray painstakingly fashions smaller-than-life formal suits, embroidered patches, ties, and hats, as well as scaled-down chests of drawers, doors, thousands of unique, thimble-sized vessels, and even complex models of the solar system.
The exhibition gathers approximately 50 sculptures and installations, from seminal early works to the first U.S. presentation of MENS SUITS (2006-2009), his highly acclaimed project presenting three complex, small-scale vignettes of second-hand clothing shops. The ICA will also premiere Throwing Shadows (2008-2010), an extraordinary new ceramic work including more than 3,000 vessels made of black porcelain, each less than two inches tall.
CHARLES LEDRAY: workworkworkworkwork will travel to the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston."
There is also a slideshow and a 12 minute video on the the ICA's webpage about the show.
I really enjoyed seeing his work. I think part of it is because I sew clothing, and I am a fiber lover. I was amazed the amount of work Ledrey completed in the 20+/- years presented in his show, and I was also amazed by his miniature carved human bone sculptures and buttons. Where and how did he get human bone?
And there was some personal nostalgia because when we were younger, my husband and I had a collection of miniature versions of regular size objects that we dubbed "The Small Shelf." Our small shelf is long gone, but there are many small art objects to look at LEDRAY's show "workworkworkworkwork" at the ICA.
Here are some reviews of the show:
"Life's wear and tear - Artist’s poignant small-scale pieces work wonders in a show at the ICA," by Sebastian Smee at the Boston Globe on July 16, 2010.
"The Power Of Tiny: Charles LeDray At The ICA," by Andrea Shea from WBUR in Boston on July 16, 2010.
"CHARLES LEDRAY - Workworkworkworkwork it out," by Kyle Paoletta on the Weekly Dig.
Image above: Charles LeDray, detail of "Overcoat," 2004. Collection of Tom and Alice Tisch, New York.
