“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.

Tilt-a-Whirl by Richard Humann
"Tilt-a-Whirl"
6" x 25" x 25"


 
Richard Humann in American Craft