Cade Tompkins Projects is delighted to announce the presentation of new work by artist Aaron Pexa presented by ZAZ10TS AT 10 Times Square, New York, New York.
Times Square is famous for its sensational signage, evolving from neon-covered facades in the 1920s, to the modern day 25-story LED display. Through the many evolutions of this crossroads, it has always offered visitors a type of visual overstimulation with its over-the-top lights and advertisements. With this history in mind, the video "I Wander the Forest in Search of Mystery" offers a respite from the flashing, quick-cut editing of the surrounding images. In it, a chandelier slowly twirls in a forest by a lake. The optic qualities of the cut crystal are activated by sunlight and enhanced by pastel atmospheres that move through the frame. The video highlights the incandescence of light and the reflective effect of glass as fleeting moments that create a fictional romantic history. Tranquil movements offer a calm counterpoint to the saturated, sumptuous commercial displays and the hustle of New York City. The video is accompanied by a commissioned sound element created by artist Maralie, the fifth collaborative work with Aaron Pexa. "I Wander the Forest in Search of Mystery" is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of American Glass in Millville, NJ.
The interior of 10TS includes neon and LED light sculptures as a nod to Times Square's history of signage, accompanied by bright wallpapers and a large format print. In the elevator bank Poppies b&w wallpaper and collagraph are colored by the light of a neon poppy, repositioning how viewers experience color, light, and pattern.
Howard Halle reviewed Aaron Pexa: Garden Party for Time-Out Magazine : "Taking up the lobby of 10 Times Square, Pexa's work is called Garden Party and combines floral wallpaper inspired by the building's Art Deco interior with neon and back-lit sculptures. But Garden Party's main attraction is a mesmerizing, 20-minute video titled, I Wander the Forest in Search of Mystery. A surreal sequence that looks like it's been shot through gauze, I Wander the Forest features a crystal chandelier sparkling in the midday sun as it lazily twirls above a clearing by a lake. Every now and then, billowing clouds of colored smoke pass through the frame, obscuring the dreamlike mise-én-scene."
