MELANIE’S OFFICE
ALAN GREENBERG - Between Here and Somewhere
On view: March 17 - April 22, 2022
I have been creating both large scale site-specific installations as well as discrete objects made in the studio for many years. My current body of studio pieces explore the liminal space where sculpture and painting meet. Both the objects on the wall and on the floor have a sense of physicality, weight and precarious balance as well as attention to how the color, surface and texture relates to the form.
While I am greatly indebted to and influenced by the minimalist artists of the sixties, I am not as interested in their smooth and shiny surfaces and the notion of rejecting the expression of the hand. I am very interested in my pieces reflecting the subtleties of the “making” process. My studio pieces are made by slowly building up and scraping back many layers of pigmented plaster over wood and metal mesh armatures. This process reveals the texture and color shifts below the top surfaces and instills a sense of history and passage of time.
The relationships the pieces have to the wall, floor and to each other are critically important to me. I want the viewer to step back and look at the works in their entirety, while also being compelled to come in close to contemplate the nuance of color and texture and how these relate to the gestalt of the forms.
Alan Greenberg lives and works in the Philadelphia area. He received his BFA from Tyler School of Art and an MA from Purdue University. He has taught at Louisiana State University, The University of the Arts and Tyler School of Art. He has created site-specific installations and has been included in solo and small group exhibits in Scotland, Germany, Italy and throughout the United States. Greenberg was the recipient of numerous grants and commissions including a Pollock Krasner grant. His work is included in private, corporate and museum collections including the Carnegie and Delaware Art Museums.