Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine

On View: Hiromi Tango’s “Promised” at Sullivan+Strumpf

There’s a problematic aspect to Hiromi Tango’s sculptures that invites the viewer's intervention, simply because they are a complete mess. Tangled bits of string, plush and rigid baubles are knotted together into a bulbous hodgepodge around a core of light, sometimes with a single word sculpted in neon at the center. Strands of fabric and material reach out like dendrites on a neuron, feeling for a connection but isolated from everything on a blank white gallery wall, asking the viewer to sit a while and try to untangle it.

There’s a problematic aspect to Hiromi Tango’s sculptures that invites the viewer’s intervention, simply because they are a complete mess. Tangled bits of string, plush and rigid baubles are knotted together into a bulbous hodgepodge around a core of light, sometimes with a single word sculpted in neon at the center. Strands of fabric and material reach out like dendrites on a neuron, feeling for a connection but isolated from everything on a blank white gallery wall, asking the viewer to sit a while and try to untangle it.

Like the frantic nests of a neurotic bird, these giant tangles are usually made of materials in tones of the same bright color — blue, yellow, pink — suggesting an underlying categorization system to the outright jumble. On display at Sullivan+Strumpf in Sydney through May 31, Tango’s “Promised” show has been discussed in outright psychological terms, of trying to parse issues like color’s impact on emotions and the materialization of trauma through art (which factors nicely in with the neon words, like “mum”, “promised” and “tears”). But the implications of psychology are also found in the sculptures’ analogy to neurobiology — to the physical parts that compose human consciousness. Not only is Tango laying her consciousness bare, but she is baring its underlying anatomy in neon and assemblage.


Detail

Meta
Share
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Email
Related Articles
At first glance, the Kaitlyn Schwalje sculpture “Unfit for Consumption” appears to tell a parable of some sort. The top of the piece scene seems serene, with grazing boars and a strange liquid form taking shape. Yet, a more ominous narrative forms when one looks below. The truth is that Schwalje’s sculpture has even stranger, yet real-world origins.
Whether rendered life-sized in resin and paint or smaller and 3D-printed, Nicholas Crombach’s figures explore our ties to the creatures of the natural world. The Canadian-born artist uses 3D printing as an extension of his past work and purpose, in a time when the contemporary tool is often used to create novelty items and irreverent, one-note sculptures. Services like Shapify have made the reaction of the human body a superficial process, while Crombach tackles something much older in nature.
Rainbow-colored mannequin legs, animal bones, skulls, and gold- these are just a few of the materials used in John Breed's eclectic installations. If his choice of medium sounds frenzied, it might stem from his creative background. Now based in the Netherlands, Breed received training from a calligraphy master in Kyoto, Japan, before he moved to New York to take on graffiti, paint frescos in Rome, and study landscape painting in China. A world traveler and natural born experimenter, every piece that Breed creates is a culmination of his extensive skill set.
At Burlington City Arts, Crystal Wagner's first-ever work existing in both the interior and exterior of a space comes with "Traverse." Wagner is known for biomorphic creations that span sculpture, prints, and installations. This exhibition, running through Oct. 2, features a site-specific installation that "grows from floor to ceiling and emerges outside to meander across the exterior façade." Wagner was last featured on HiFructose.com here.

Subscribe to the Hi-Fructose Mailing List