Brian Oakes Mines the Techno-organic at Blade Study
“Not all seeds become flowers.”
Last Thursday, Blade Study Gallery lifted the veil on a new solo exhibition by interdisciplinary sculptor Brian Oakes. SEED follows a commodity’s journey through the supply chain. Traveling through terrains of conception to display, the show envisions its viewers as agents of productions. In a braid of organic and mechanical materials, the artist explores new rhythms of life in an era of individualism.
The exhibition disrupts traditional ideas of labor with consumerist tendencies. For example, “Display Case 2 (A Garden)” presents a collection of homemade rubies beside copper-sulfate seeds. Naturally occurring and handcrafted, this alchemical display challenges the concept of inherent value as the stones’ rich red and blues sparkle back at the audience. Other standout works, such as “ASRS 1”, embed smaller sculptures within them, summoning computerized processes of storage, memory, and retrieval. Equal parts refined and raw, Oakes searches for creative potential in everyday hardware.
Upon the reception of The Armory Show’s Gramercy Prize, Oakes’ exhibition expands Blade Study’s foray into the up-and-coming. “Our focus is to support solo shows that help emergent artists strike out in a new direction,” says the gallery’s co-founder Ian Glover in an interview. “In that sense, we lead with the vision of the artists we work with.”
SEED is currently on view at Blade Study until October 13, 2024.
Blade Study Gallery
17 Pike St,
New York, NY 10002
