Architecture's Sprawling Influence Manifests Itself in an Exhibit

Cardboard buildings, recreated domestic interiors, and collages of architectural façades come together for group exhibition ‘Ecco Domus.’

by Andrew Nunes

June 17, 2016, 4:55pm

Pyrite Louis XV Chassis, Joy Curtis. All images courtesy of the artists and the gallery.

The relationship between artist and architectural space is the point of departure for Ecco Domus, a group exhibition at Jersey City’s Art House. In collaboration with The Dorado Project, the show highlights the works of nine visual artists who, in their diverse practices, each engage with aspects of built environments.

Some of the works in the show are physical and tangible manifestations of architectural space, just on a smaller scale. Joy Curtis' sculptures originate from architectural elements sourced from commercial interiors. She casts and brings them together to create structures that are unrecognizable, despite all of them originating from the same spaces. Kirk Amaral Snow's Conspicuous Consumption is a minimalist cardboard structure that reframes vernacular architecture and infrastructure.

Conspicuous Consumption, Kirk Amaral Snow

Other works reframe and represent certain elements of architecture within the limits of the artists' mediums of choice. From waiting rooms to museum lobbies, Teresa Moro creates gouache paintings that depict still lives of furniture arrangements found in organized human environments. Jeremy Coleman Smith's Place Setting is a photograph of a recreated domestic interior scene made of wasted materials like corrugated cardboard and foam. Emily Hass' Exile series consists of abstract renderings of Berlin building plans that, in the 1930s, were known to house persecuted Jews, artists, and intellectuals.

Prouvé collector 11, Teresa Moro

“The focus on architectural space, at least within the context of Ecco Domus, is intimate and personal. For example, Krista Svalbonas' Migrant series are photo collages comprised of architectural imagery from her travels within the three locations that she general considers home; Chicago, New York City, and rural Pennsylvania,” Enrico Gomez, the exhibition’s curator, tells The Creators Project. “Be it personal, abstract, or universal, I think the qualities of architectural space are such that the artists in the show are inspired to pull from it in a variety of ways.”