A new grouping of work from the You See AC series is now on display at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center until September 3rd. Closing reception August 27th from 6-8pm
Here is my official statement (you can tell its official, because I am using the third person):
Wall of Air presents a series of small sculptures by Ana M. Lopez that address our increasingly complex relationship with air conditioning. Conflating references from the decorative and industrial arts, these objects invite the viewer to consider wealth, display, power and privilege as they relate to this modern amenity.
This body of work borrows forms from the ubiquitous, invisible evidence of artificial air handling that populates many rooftops and exterior walls. These metal forms are typically mass-produced by industrial processes but have been recreated by Lopez through small-scale craft practices. The enamel finishes are inspired by historic ceramic vessels from all over the world. Many of the finished works are presented in the format of garnitures. These sets of decorative accessories were typically comprised of imported porcelain or artful bronze work and were popular from the seventeenth century onward. Typically displayed on mantelpieces, they reflected the owner’s taste and wealth. Lopez’s laboriously crafted arrangements of common rooftop objects of air passage invite one to reflect upon the West’s atmospheric colonization of the global climate.
The title piece, Wall of Air, is an installation of four wall-mounted porcelain-enameled steel boxes embellished with silver. The forms are based on the external appearance of through-window air conditioning units. Walls make air conditioning feasible but they also exclude. As climate change brings increasingly severe weather, control of one’s domestic comfort is likely to become a luxury commodity of increased class disparity.
The exhibition was made possible thanks to a Scholarly and Creative Activity Grant from the University of North Texas.