Andy Coolquitt

Andy Coolquitt, bOnniE i LovE (can) YOu, cAn i sEE yOu saT oR SuN LovE jiM, 2008, cardboard, altered metal lamp, electrical wire, 3” x 63” x 54". Courtesy of the artist and Jack Hanley Gallery

Jack Hanley Gallery - San Francisco

By Cara Despain

Like the show’s title, Andy Coolquitt’s sculptural works at Jack Hanley Gallery in San Francisco carry a distinct human quality that is once removed from their creator. Constructed from scavenged materials-specifically pieces of metal and plastic pipes in graduating sizes, drinking straws, lighters, electrical wire, a partially consumed 40 oz. bottle of beer, and cardboard-the very minimal forms are like the skeletons of human discard. Astutely arranged and welded in linear, geometric configurations punctuated by large round lightbulbs, the works casually lean on walls and sparsely litter the floor of the gallery space, provoking an examination of the interior nature with which they are imbued despite being recovered from trash piles and other outdoor urban settings. Having once belonged to someone else in the form of furniture or accessory, the components of the stark, javelin/lamp-like works only hint at their original function. It’s a more discriminating and thoughtful approach to work using found refuse than many: the exaggerated yet subtle tubular frames and melted together plastic lighter strips create a sort of underlying secondary narrative that is consistent with Coolquitt’s interest in urban makeshift gathering places.

The exhibition at first glance visually gives a craftier impression than its truer human implications reveal. When upon closer inspection you see just how pre-meditated and acutely selected the pieces’ constituents are, you realize how much time, history, and rummaging the work represents. Each bit has been chosen, altered, reduced, and synthesized, leaving only a bare-bones rendition of the process and the original objects. The piece bOnniE i LovE (can) YOu, cAn i sEE yOu saT oR SuN LovE jiM, where the title for show was clearly derived, is comprised of an altered desk lamp and a collapsed cardboard box with the title’s same fragmented sentiment scrawled across one side. It seems to communicate a vague scenario that feels almost as though it was found as a setting just like the materials themselves were found.

The arrangement and installation of the show overall effectively brought out the more interesting and deeper meaning of the works. There is a strange tone of urban rejection to the exhibition that seems key to experiencing Coolquitt appropriately, and it is this feeling that keeps the work safely distant from merely being cleverly-designed, salvaged-material home lighting.

(January 15 - Februrary 15, 2010)

Filed Under: Reviews