March 19, 2024

Dennos Welcomes Two New Modern Exhibitions

Aug. 24, 2014

Li Hongbo & Matt Shlian: Stacked and Folded - Paper as Sculpture

One is organic, while the other is architectural.

One is from Beijing, while the other calls Ann Arbor home.

And both artists use paper as structures for their art.

East meets West in this Dennos exhibit, which brings together a Chinese and an American artist and their respectively stunning creations.

Li Hongbo’s work involves the stacking of thousands of sheets of paper, using glue and pressure to hold them together. Sawing, cutting, and later fine-tuning with sandpaper, he crafts the paper into sculptures that mimic marble.

Dennos Museum Center Executive Director Gene Jenneman first saw Hongbo’s work at Art Miami, the international showcase for collectors, curators, and artists.

"At the show, Hongbo was displaying what looked like marble busts," Jenneman said. "Then, one of the gallery attendants pulled on a pair of white gloves, and suddenly pulled the head open. Jaws dropped! It created a sensation."

Hongbo’s works will be displayed in several different forms, to showcase their malleability, as will the work of his exhibition partner, Matt Shlian.

As a "paper engineer," Shlian has been working with the chemists and physicists at University of Michigan to mimic the way chemical structures and bonds look. He translates those experiences into his art.

Some of Shlian’s pieces look spiky and vaguely dangerous, while others evoke a pop-up book. The majority of his works are white, although some are black and a few feature color washes.

"I was fascinated with the way he folded and developed his works, which are more mathematical and geometric than Hongbo’s," Jenneman said. "Matt’s works really are "˜engineered.’" Some of Shlian’s works pop apart, while others are designed to hang in a certain way. He’s even expanded on their interactive nature by shrinking some of his artworks down and making them available for purchase at the museum store.

"This is so people can buy them and then actually be able to engage with them, folding and unfolding on a smaller scale without affecting the exhibit itself," Jenneman said.

Dennos Museum Center, Traverse City, Sept. 21 – Jan. 4, 2015


Chul Hyun Ahn: Infinite Space

New work being showcased at the Dennos in September will be that of Korean artist Chul Hyun Ahn, who uses light, color, and illusion to create his works.

Ahn’s art expands even further the efforts of the Dennos’ continued goal to bring in works that are non-traditional.

"Not what you might expect to see at the Dennos," said Dennos Museum Center Executive Director Gene Jenneman.

For light sources, Ahn pairs fluorescents, black lights, and LEDs with cast acrylic, cast concrete, or plywood. Both regular and one-way mirrors create an artistic glow, with infinitely repeating patterns, tunnels with no end in sight, and gaping pits that appear to have no floor.

Ahn also sees his works as representations of a deeper meaning, his interpretations of the spaces and transitions between worlds such as the conscious and sub-conscious.

Jenneman first caught Ahn’s work at Art Miami in 2012.

"His exhibit was one of those things that people gather around and talk about but the gallery had actually sold all of his pieces at the show, so it took a while for him to build up more works and for us to get him here," he said.

Jenneman said that Ahn’s "VOID" series may be one of his most interesting to date, as he experiments with bright colors that fade to black. He also has a series of new drawings on mirrors.

"He works with the reverse of the mirror, and scrapes into the backs of them to create pieces that are almost spider web-like," Jenneman said.

Jenneman said that Ahn’s show will appeal to the public.

"I think his work is going to be very appealing to the public, whether you look at it as "˜just’ light sculptures, or get drawn into it as the artist wants you to, with thoughts towards consciousness and infinity," he said.

Dennos Museum Center, Traverse City, Sept. 21 – Jan. 4, 2015

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