Precarious Cut-Stone Sculptures Convey a Sense of Delicate Balance

Like a post-minimal graveyard, Kishio Suga’s cut stones and wood planks lend an existential air to the exhibition space at Dia:Chelsea. The Japanese artist’s first solo museum show in the United States gives a nod to Suga’s legacy as one of the founding members of Japan’s School of Things (Mono-ha), by featuring, alongside newly commissioned works, a selection of his earlier, iconic pieces.

As a direct response to Dia:Chelsea’s building, the former home of Alcamo Marble Works Inc., Suga recreated his signature Placement of Condition installation. In the work, posts of stones are joined by wire, forming negative space within the space. And in his new work, Law of Halted Spaces, Suga experiments with equilibrium through layered metal rods resting on wooden planks. Together with the other works, including Diagonal Phase, Accumulated Effects, and Space Transformation, these pieces convey a sense of delicate balance and speak to an interplay between creative energy and limitations of space.

In other words, the Mono-ha master says a lot with bits of wood and a few, simple stones.

Below, check out Suga’s work, new and old, in Dia:Chelsea’s converted space:

Kishio Suga, at Dia:Chelsea, runs until July 29, 2017. See more of Kishio Suga’s work here.

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