DANIEL ZELLER
Immiscible Cohesion
16 October – 15 November, 2015
Opening Reception: Fri, 16 October. 7-9pm
Press Release
We are proud to present an exhibition of new works by Daniel Zeller. The exhibition title expresses the subtext for his new body of work and is itself a study in contradictions: ‘immiscible’ refers to the impossibility of two substances mixing, the opposite of ‘cohesion.’ In these new works, Zeller juxtaposes and brings together things that typically appear to be at odds.
This exhibition will consist of a group of black and white ink drawings on paper in Gallery 1 and one large-scale sculpture consuming much of the space in Gallery 2. The new drawings – a kind of imagined topo-cellular cartography on acid – seem as though they could all be part of the same world, each referencing different potential sections of that world. In certain ways they pull from each other – as Zeller continues to develop a language of marks and shapes – to create new terrains, new organisms. These drawings exhibit Zeller’s characteristic push/pull between macro and micro worlds, referencing topographical, biological, astronomical, and other imagery that he has absorbed and reimagined to create entirely new forms.
In one drawing, “SitA,” a highly undulating line traverses the paper horizontally, dividing it more or less across the center. Below the line is an area densely populated with fine marks creating a viscous terrain; above the line it is contrasted by untouched blank paper. In another, “Delta Mine,” what appears to be a solid inky, river-like form traversing an area of delicate topographical marks, is revealed to be comprised of finely drawn lines just barely visible upon closer inspection, revealing an unfamiliar and inexplicable landscape.
Zeller originally studied sculpture, later switching primarily to the medium of drawing, and his drawings have always incorporated his interest in three-dimensionality. This exhibition brings his two- and three-dimensional work together for the first time and allows the viewer to experience the full development of his work. The sculpture, “Inference,” occupies most of the gallery and reveals its complex, armature- and architectural-like structure on the outside, suspending its skin-like fabric on the inside. It can be viewed as a vessel, tent, shelter, bomb, missile, or any other number of objects. Each integral section functions within its self-contained purpose, but the object in full has no function; it is a rotating contradiction.
The drawings pull you into their detail; before them you become the outsized observer in the room, peering into a microscopic world, or hovering drone-like above a macro terrain. Upon entering the room housing the sculpture, you become the small element overwhelmed by the larger-than-life object filling the room. An element like a microorganism found in the ocean – such as a diatom, which exhibits radial symmetry and appears almost architectural – exists within the drawings but the scale here is flipped: in the drawings, it’s tiny, in the sculpture it’s giant.
This will be Zeller’s seventh one-person exhibition at Pierogi. His work has been included in numerous exhibitions and is part of the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art (NY, NY), Whitney Museum of American Art (NY, NY), Museum of Contemporary Art (LA, CA), Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo, NY), among others. Zeller lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
The artist would like to thank Pete Glaude, Gary Krewson, and the Art and Engineering Departments at the University of Connecticut, Storrs.