on view: December 2 – December 30, 2000
Opening Reception: December 2, 6–8pm

A Ghost in Every Kayak:
the dignities of powerful objects

Richard Nonas

Richard Nonas is an internationally acclaimed abstract sculptor known for the intense special presence of his work. But he is also an ex-anthropologist, a long-time student of Eskimo culture and a serious kayak paddler. A Ghost in Every Kayak is his attempt to bring these diverse interests together.
Five boats, native artifacts, Eskimo throat-singing, old Inuit photographs, old Greenlandic films and Nonas’ own sculpture and drawings are used like the massive wood, steel and stone he usually builds with - and they are used for the same emotional and formal ends. This is an exhibition not about arctic history or anthropology but about the power of strong objects encroaching on one another and on the world around them; about the emotionally charged places that such objects make, about the dignity of numerous numinous things: the exotic-familiar. It is an exhibition about the mysteries of how art happens.

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.