Solo Exhibition: 𝔊𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔐𝔶 𝔅𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔰 𝔗𝔬 𝔗𝔥𝔢 ℜ𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔫
Christopher M. Tandy
Dates: January 7 - 28, 2023
Reception: Saturday, January 7 | 4 - 7 PM
Glass Rice is proud to present 𝔊𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔐𝔶 𝔅𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔰 𝔗𝔬 𝔗𝔥𝔢 ℜ𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔫, Christopher M. Tandy’s third experiential solo exhibition with the gallery. In this new body of multi-disciplinary work, Tandy continues to unpack, morph, and express lived experiences through building layers of drawings, sculpture, sound, and installation.
The English calligraphy used to announce the show is an ode and call to his mother; a way of distilling the positive and artistic memories of her as a part of his own identity. The title itself is an invitation and offering. For the artist, by willingly offering up one’s bones to The Raven, a vessel of knowledge, it takes the refuse of our bones and trauma; re-synthesizing it into something else entirely. The idea of taking pain and fear apart, specifically for Queer and marginalized people, and putting it back together in a form that is useful is the crux of this show.
Hanging in the floor to ceiling street-facing window of the front room of the gallery is a large chain and hook sculpture, rusted and overgrown with crystals. Beneath it, in the corner sits a small sculpture, Only Dissent Is Left, on a found redwood slab. In the front room, ten framed drawings are displayed along the walls; composed of graphite and collage on white paper and mylar, while others are visual inversions with white pencil on black paper. Each drawing is unfixed, referring to Queer stories, the persecution of witches, memories from his past, and false narratives that have been told to justify violence and murder. The sculptures and drawings have an equal sense of motion and movement; suggesting a world in flux.
Specifically in You Are No Longer the Narrator, Tandy uses this title as an imperative phrase in the re-contextualization of violent narratives that plague humanity. Written in sigillic text within the landscape of amoebic smoke and plasmatic shapes is a spell that commands the transformation. Forms congeal and coalesce. “People have a drive to control the narrative, starting with parents in relation to their children. This drawing shuts that down. No longer are these stories being accepted.” The drawing embodies, emanates and amplifies its title; vibrating in and out of the frame and enmeshing the phrase into your thoughts.
As this uncanny world expands into the back room of the gallery, viewers are greeted by The Raven Machine; a life size sculpture consisting of rusted scythes, bones, computer remnants, wire, copper, grave rubbings, and other reagent materials. This seemingly cognitive being is lit internally with a blue and white light, recording and re-coding every sound made in the room. The unfurling soundscape, a collaboration between Tandy, Evan Meyer and Brian Bender, envelops the room and visitors activating a sonic spell or magickal song unfurling in real time. Wands flank The Raven Machine, casting slight shadows across the wall they rest on. In tandem, these elements bring the room to life; grounding viewers within the space and incorporating the feelings they hope to share into the larger narrative and offering of this installation.
As the veil is lifted once again, 𝔊𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔐𝔶 𝔅𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔰 𝔗𝔬 𝔗𝔥𝔢 ℜ𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔫 is an invitation to shift the status quo as we explore Queerness and genuine senses of self. Through the amalgamation of ancestral knowledge and applying it to our current time, Tandy amplifies Queer voices and centers Queerness as a source of powerful magick - something communal and indelible.
__________
The opening reception will run from 4 - 7 pm on January 7th and is open to the general public for walk-ins. Private appointments can be made on our website to view the exhibition after the opening reception through January 28th.
Christopher M. Tandy
Dates: January 7 - 28, 2023
Reception: Saturday, January 7 | 4 - 7 PM
Glass Rice is proud to present 𝔊𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔐𝔶 𝔅𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔰 𝔗𝔬 𝔗𝔥𝔢 ℜ𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔫, Christopher M. Tandy’s third experiential solo exhibition with the gallery. In this new body of multi-disciplinary work, Tandy continues to unpack, morph, and express lived experiences through building layers of drawings, sculpture, sound, and installation.
The English calligraphy used to announce the show is an ode and call to his mother; a way of distilling the positive and artistic memories of her as a part of his own identity. The title itself is an invitation and offering. For the artist, by willingly offering up one’s bones to The Raven, a vessel of knowledge, it takes the refuse of our bones and trauma; re-synthesizing it into something else entirely. The idea of taking pain and fear apart, specifically for Queer and marginalized people, and putting it back together in a form that is useful is the crux of this show.
Hanging in the floor to ceiling street-facing window of the front room of the gallery is a large chain and hook sculpture, rusted and overgrown with crystals. Beneath it, in the corner sits a small sculpture, Only Dissent Is Left, on a found redwood slab. In the front room, ten framed drawings are displayed along the walls; composed of graphite and collage on white paper and mylar, while others are visual inversions with white pencil on black paper. Each drawing is unfixed, referring to Queer stories, the persecution of witches, memories from his past, and false narratives that have been told to justify violence and murder. The sculptures and drawings have an equal sense of motion and movement; suggesting a world in flux.
Specifically in You Are No Longer the Narrator, Tandy uses this title as an imperative phrase in the re-contextualization of violent narratives that plague humanity. Written in sigillic text within the landscape of amoebic smoke and plasmatic shapes is a spell that commands the transformation. Forms congeal and coalesce. “People have a drive to control the narrative, starting with parents in relation to their children. This drawing shuts that down. No longer are these stories being accepted.” The drawing embodies, emanates and amplifies its title; vibrating in and out of the frame and enmeshing the phrase into your thoughts.
As this uncanny world expands into the back room of the gallery, viewers are greeted by The Raven Machine; a life size sculpture consisting of rusted scythes, bones, computer remnants, wire, copper, grave rubbings, and other reagent materials. This seemingly cognitive being is lit internally with a blue and white light, recording and re-coding every sound made in the room. The unfurling soundscape, a collaboration between Tandy, Evan Meyer and Brian Bender, envelops the room and visitors activating a sonic spell or magickal song unfurling in real time. Wands flank The Raven Machine, casting slight shadows across the wall they rest on. In tandem, these elements bring the room to life; grounding viewers within the space and incorporating the feelings they hope to share into the larger narrative and offering of this installation.
As the veil is lifted once again, 𝔊𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔐𝔶 𝔅𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔰 𝔗𝔬 𝔗𝔥𝔢 ℜ𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔫 is an invitation to shift the status quo as we explore Queerness and genuine senses of self. Through the amalgamation of ancestral knowledge and applying it to our current time, Tandy amplifies Queer voices and centers Queerness as a source of powerful magick - something communal and indelible.
__________
The opening reception will run from 4 - 7 pm on January 7th and is open to the general public for walk-ins. Private appointments can be made on our website to view the exhibition after the opening reception through January 28th.