New American Sculpture 

Leonardo Benzant - Lindsay Dye - Hugh Hayden -
Asif Mian - Clive Murphy - Matt Sears - Kate Stone -
Justin Randolph Thompson - Bradly Dever Treadaway

Curated by Dexter Wimberly

on view: February 28 – March 29, 2015 
opening Reception: Saturday, February 28, 5–8pm

FiveMyles is pleased to present New American Sculpture, an exhibition highlighting the work of nine artists who seek to challenge conventional thinking about sculpture and simultaneously express their cultural agency. The exhibition’s title not only reflects the fact that the exhibited works are new, but it also conveys the  artists’ fresh approach to three-dimensional art making. 

“For these multidisciplinary artists, sculpture is but one aspect of their practice, yet it emerges as the most potent manifestation of their creative output. New American Sculpture serves as a platform for some of their most exciting and insightful work,” Dexter Wimberly. 

Leonardo Benzant’s Paraphernalia Of The Urban Shaman M:5 (POTUS M:5), an ongoing series of sculptures that grew as a visceral response to various power-objects the artist encountered in his studies; Lindsay Dye‘s Weston Hills Country Club (Light, Medium, Dark), spray-tanned “plant” sculptures that comment on class divisions and race politics; Hugh Hayden's Moses, a “hacked" vintage arcade grabber machine that picks infinite fields of cotton as a meditation on The Great Migration; Asif Mian’s Resurrection of Phineas Gage, a monument to the legendary 19th Century railroad construction worker who survived an accident that drove a large iron rod through his head; Clive Murphy’s Neon Toaster, an appropriated, reconfigured common object that evokes both curiosity and danger; Matt Sears’ Cheek to Cheek, an interactive wall-mounted box that transfers vibrations to the bones of the human body; Renovation 3 (Alberto's Disrepair), a construction by Kate Stone utilizing raw building materials that challenge assumptions of familiar architectural structures; and Justin Randolph Thompson and Bradly Dever Treadaway’s collaboration, Primer, a mixed-media sculpture composed of quilted mechanics rags, funerary portraiture, and light boxes  created from reclaimed lumber from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. 

Independent curator Dexter Wimberly was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He has organized exhibitions and programs for Mixed Greens Gallery; Driscoll Babcock Galleries; 101 Exhibit; Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art; bitforms gallery; Koki Arts, Tokyo; the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA); and The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; among others. Wimberly is the Director of Strategic Planning at Independent Curators International in New York. 

DIRECTIONS:

Take 2, 3, or 4 trains to Franklin Avenue. Walk two blocks against the traffic on Franklin. Walk ¾ block to 558 St. Johns Place. FiveMyles is within easy walking distance from the Brooklyn Museum.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

FiveMyles is in part supported by the New York State Council for the Arts, Public Funds from the New York City Dept. of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Council Member Laurie Cumbo, the Greenwich Collection, The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, and Humanities NY.