James Casebere: Shou Sugi Ban Sculptures

Gallery Hours
Sundays 11 AM - 5 PM, through October 13, 2024 (or by appointment)

‘T’ Space is proud to present an exhibition of new sculptural work by James Casebere. Shou Sugi Ban Sculptures will be on view from July 20 – October 13, 2024 at the Archive Gallery, on the ‘T’ Space Reserve: 60 Round Lake Road in Rhinebeck, NY.

James Casebere’s work has addressed architecture from the start by building models to photograph. In the late ’80s, and early ‘90’s, Casebere built larger sculptural installations, but only recently has felt compelled to design new structures—first, specifically for photographs, and second, to imagine these new structures built in real space.

For this exhibition, Casebere presents a new series of large geometric sculptures that engage notions of synthetic nature: bio-design—or self-generating forms that suggest organic or inorganic growth. The impulse behind the sculpture was, for Casebere, partly about real life experience instead of on-screen, and the materiality, space, and use of light—crafting an analog experience that engages all the senses in a social context, similar to his Pavilion for 2 or 3 in Chatham, NY. The three sculptures on-view were created for an indoor gallery or domestic space related to, but not participatory like the pavilion. Here, Casebere embraces the traditional vernacular Japanese method of wood preservation known as Shou Sugi Ban, and uses a sustainable bamboo plywood as the base material, constructing it out of planar surfaces, similar to the way he builds the original table-top models. While the burning creates a warm, soft, and organic surface rather than something cold and hard like steel, it refers to the destructiveness of fire, and hence, change over time. It seems to present both tradition, and technological innovation, past and future simultaneously.

The exhibition is accompanied by a publication, featuring an extensive interview with James Casebere and Steven Holl; available to all gallery guests.

In July, Casebere participated in our esteemed Virtual Public Lecture Series, presenting further insight into his artistic practice. A recording is available on our YouTube Channel (@tspaceandsmhf).

Please contact visit@smhfoundation.org with any questions.