“You Must Be This Tall”
Richard Humann
13 November — 20 December, 2008
Gallery Hours: Tuesday — Saturday noon – 6 PM or by appointment
Richard Humann’s third solo exhibition, “You Must Be This Tall”, will
be premiering at Elga Wimmer PCC on West 26th Street in New York City
on Thursday, November 13th. Humann has worked in various types of
media,including drawing, sculpture, video, and installation. For his
upcoming exhibition he has hand crafted a series of sculptures of
miniature amusement rides from bass wood. At surface glance, they
appear to be common amusement park rides. However, upon further
inspection, the rides are actually presented in an abject and eerie
manner, rather than as an embodiment of typical childhood nostalgia.
The twist is that each ride has substituted the ride-goers seat for
what looks like a less joyful device and could be interpreted as some
kind of a torture instrument. The Tilt-A-Whirl has stockades in place
of spinning orbs, and the Octopus and bumper cars are more suggestive
of “Halloween” or a horror movie. These uncanny and frightful rides
are juxtaposed by Humann’s ability to execute his sculptures in a
prototypal and meticulous manner. Although his work appears static and
geometric, the wooden shapes still give the impression of movement and
fluidity. In total, eight new sculptures will be presented in the
exhibition. “You Must Be This Tall” has been described as “humorous,
sinister and meticulous.”
Richard Humann has had numerous exhibitions worldwide, including the
Tampere Art Museum, Tampere, Finland; Museo Cristobal Gabbarron,
Murcia, Spain, Samzie Space, Seoul, Korea; Gasworks Gallery, London,
England; Kunst + Technik, Berlin, Germany; Lance Fung Gallery, New
York, NY; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sonoma, CA; Planet Art Gallery,
Cape Town, South Africa and Corridor Gallery, Reykjavik, Iceland. His
work was chosen for the 2003 Venice Biennale, Palazzo Zorzi, Venice
Italy. Humann's art work has appeared in many publications including
American Craft, ArtForum, Art in America, Flash Art, ArtReview, Dwell
and The New York Times.
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