Joseph Grigely

Juan Antonio Olivares

Aguirre, Mexico City

Aguirre

An image taken from the street of a tree trunk, sidewalk and building. The tree is centered in the image. Its roots break through the sidewalk in front of the building. To the right of the tree is a doorway and to the left a window with cast iron grating. The building is white, fading and worn in many places to gray. Almost the same gray as the smooth bark of the tree and the cracking sidewalk.

An installation view taken through a doorway to a room beyond. Two concrete walls on either side frame a room with a concrete floor, a red brick back wall, and a wooden ceiling. In the room is a free-standing structure of red-brown metal pipes on wheels, resembling scaffolding. Chains hang from wooden planks across the top. A picture hangs on the brick wall, obscured by the metal structure.

A metal sculpture resembling a scaffold is centered in a room with a concrete floor. To the left, the room possibly opens onto a patio. Hanging and potted plants sit in that corner in brighter light. To the right, an image hangs on a red brick wall. The free-standing sculpture is made of brown metal pipes with cross beams to support wood planks on the roof. Hanging from the planks are chains and yellow bands.

A tighter view of the brown metal sculpture with hanging chains. Two sets of chains hang from wooden planks. The chains are connected to large, red hooks that seem to control their length. Yellow loops hang from small red hooks attached to the chains. Behind the metal sculpture, an image hangs on the brick wall, obscured by one side of the sculpture. Further to the right, a realistic painting of an ear hangs on the brick wall.

A close up of the metal sculpture. Brown-red pipes criss cross to form a structure that supports wood planks across the top. A detail of chains hanging from the wood planks. The chains loop around the wood and attach to a large red hook and pulley. Chains extend beyond the pulley leading to a small red hook where a yellow band is looped. In the background another yellow band is draped over the top of the sculpture, beside the wooden planks.

A room with a concrete floor, a red brick wall, and wooden plank ceiling. Two concrete beams run along the ceiling and down the walls, separating the brick wall into three sections. In the left section a small picture hangs on the brick wall. The picture has a dark background and a brown circular blob in the center, too distant to see clearly. In the center section of wall there is a picture of an ear rendered realistically in black and white. In the right section of wall two images hang, both too far away to see clearly but with dark backgrounds and brown circular shapes at the center. The edge of the red metal sculpture is in the far left of the image.

A painting of a human ear hangs on a red brick wall. The ear is rendered in black and white. The curves and folds of the ear take up almost the entire canvas. The background of the painting is darker, maybe hair. The canvas is a narrow rectangle, vertically hung, its length longer than its width.

Two framed images hang on a brick wall with a wooden vitrine in the foreground. At this angle we can't see inside the vitrine. It is made of pinkish wood with narrow metal legs that extend outside the image. The two images are photographs of the same size with matching wood frames. The image on the left pictures a series of wooden sculptures that resembles the inside of an ear. Sheets of wood seem to have been cut in the same shape and then lined behind each other to form a long row on a table in a room. The picture to the right is a photograph of a similar wooden sculpture. The shape is different but many layers of wood have been cut in the same shape and form a row.

A tighter image of the two framed photographs on a brick wall. The image on the left is of a wooden sculpture the shape of an upside-down comma or it might also resemble the inside of an ear. Flat, wooden sheets have been cut into this shape and then placed in a row on a dark table surface. The image to the right is of a similar wooden sculpture formed of many flat pieces of wood cut in the same shape and forming a row. This sculpture has a wider base and comes to a point like a wide-bottomed vase.

A wide view of the installation. A semi-outdoor space consisting of concrete walls, a wooden ceiling and red brick walls. Photographs hang on the walls, with reflections of light making them impossible to see. In the back of the space stands a free-standing metal sculpture on wheels resembling scaffolding.

A framed photograph in the center of the image hangs on a concrete wall or beam. In the foreground there are lush, green plant leaves and the background is concrete. The image is a photograph of a wooden sculpture. The sculpture is centered against a dark background. It consists of thin pieces of wood that have been carved into a natural, flowing shape and placed in a row, like a roll of coins. There is a faint reflection of natural light on the photograph.

A close-up of the framed photograph of the wooden sculpture, Perforated Tympanum #18. The first plane of the sculpture shows light brown and dark brown curves of wood grain, followed by almost identical layers of the same shape that lead to a row of this shape lined up in space. Only in the first plane of wood is all of the woodgrain visible. Each of the following shapes is wood but only the edges can be seen. The remainder of the image is dark. The sculpture sits on a surface of some kind leading back into a room.

A different framed photograph of the same wooden sculpture, Perforated Tympanum #18, seen from the side. From this angle all thirteen layers of the sculpture can be seen. It looks like a loaf of sliced bread has been carved into a rounded, natural shape that fills the center of the photo. Each slice of bread has been carved into the same shape and lined up to reform the loaf with some space in between each slice. The background of the image is dark. The sculpture is lit by soft light that brings out the golds in the wood.

A wood-framed photograph hanging on a brick wall. The photograph shows a wooden sculpture centered in the image. The sculpture forms an upside-down comma shape. It is formed from many layers of wood cut into the same shape and aligned in a row on a dark table. The room beyond is white and light comes from somewhere to the right, illuminating the sculpture and throwing shadows on the white wall.

A framed photograph of a brightly-lit wooden sculpture in a dark space. The sculpture consists of a row of thin wood pieces, like slices from a tree trunk, that have been carved into a curving shape. The shape is round with multiple waves or rolls at the top. Unlike the other sculptures in the show, the layers in this sculpture do not line up. At the top of the sculpture, the curves of the next layer appear from behind and the curves behind it also appear, making layers of wooden curves, going back maybe 15 layers deep into the darkness of the image.

A framed photograph of a wooden sculpture centered against a dark background. The sculpture consists of multiple layers of wood cut into the same curving shape. Wood grain is visible in the first layer of wood. The sculpture is strongly lit from the right.

Framed photograph of a wooden sculpture in a darker space. The sculpture consists of multiple layers of wood cut in the same shape. It appears as if the trunk of a tree had been sliced into planes. Each layer of the sculpture has the same crack running through it on the left. The sculpture is illuminated brightly from the left.

A painting of a human ear fills almost the entire canvas. The ear is rendered in black and white, most of the curves and shapes in the ear look like graphite. Darker hair and part of a jaw surround the edge of the ear.

A bird's eye view of the inside of a vitrine. Photographs, papers and small objects, including work gloves, a folding ruler, and a piece of raw wood sit on a dark wood background.

A close-up of the vitrine. A fragment of wood is centered in the image next to photographs, a length of chain, a brush, a folding ruler and a pair of gloves.

Another image of the contents inside the vitrine. The chain of a chainsaw, a gray pair of crumpled gloves. A photograph too distant to see and other documents and objects partially outside the picture.

Another image of the contents inside the vitrine. A document that can be read after zooming in: a medical document listing the history and early diagnosis of the artist's hearing loss. Below the medical record is a small photograph picturing layers of wood being assembled, perhaps before carving. Another photograph of the assembly from a different angle. A folding ruler, brush, and work gloves to the side.

A close-up in the vitrine of a photograph, taken outside, perhaps from the studio of the artist. Layers of wood are strung on a pole before being carved. Another photograph is mostly outside the image as well as the ruler and gloves.

Close up in the vitrine of photographs, sketches, and notes about the wooden sculptures presented as photographs in the exhibition. The word "tree" is written in red and underlined twice. The other notes are small and in graphite. The chain of a chainsaw and another images are partially out of view.

Sketches and photographs of sculptures in progress. In one photograph, a stack of wood is being held or suspended by the metal scaffolding seen in the gallery. In another photograph, there is a row with layers of wood, not yet cut into a shape.

A close-up of a sketch in the vitrine on a yellow piece of paper. The sketch in graphite shows a row of shapes forming the sculpture, Perforated Tympanum #23 from the side and then one single shape from the front. A small photograph of the same sculpture is placed above the sketch. Other photographs and objects in the vitrine are mostly out of view.

The sketch of Perforated Tympanum #23 on yellow paper from a different view. A fragment of wood is next to the sketch in the vitrine, almost like a fabric sample. Other objects and photographs in the vitrine are mostly out of the image.

A close up of the vitrine. A fragment of wood to the left and two photographs to the right. The first photograph is black and white. It pictures a room filled with piles of wood layers, likely the artist's studio. The next photograph is in color but appears to be the same room filed with piles of wood.

Joseph Grigely, Juan Antonio OlivaresPerforated TympaniAguirre, Mexico City

Exhibition Images

Joseph Grigely, Juan Antonio OlivaresPerforated Tympani
Aguirre, Mexico City