Barry X Ball
Remaking Sculpture
Nasher Sculpture Center [link]
Dallas, TX
January 25 – April 19, 2020
Re-embodying the nostalgic spirit of classical sculpture in the contemporary age of mechano-digital reproduction parallels the “digitized consciousness” quandary, wherein fidelity of replication manifests the soul.
This sculpture –akin to photographic processes of pointing, shooting, and printing— maps the form into digital aether, a disembodied state of limbo. Ball’s conversion of the static singular into this transferable state unbinds the sculpture from their crypts, producing untethered ghosts capable of manifesting new bodies through talented mediums. Yet, this captured aura is now vulnerable to the foibles of all digitization: the mutable matrices beg to be re-mixed, sampled, and, ultimately, re-mastered.
~ Ryder Richards
images by the author
Sculpture: Italian Portoro marble, stainless steel
23 x 17 1/4 x 9 1/2 in. (58.4 x 43.8 x 24.1 cm)
Pedestal: Macedonian marble, stainless steel, wood, acrylic lacquer, steel, nylon, plastic
45 x 14 x 12 in. (114.3 x 35.6 x 30.5 cm)
Assembly: 68 x 17 1/4 x 12 in. (172.7 x 43.8 x 30.5 cm)
After Giusto Le Court (1627–1679), La Invidia, circa 1670, Ca’ Rezzonico, Venice
Sculpture: translucent white Iranian onyx, stainless steel
24 x 16 1/2 x 11 1/4 in. (61 x 41.9 x 28.6 cm)
Pedestal: Macedonian marble, stainless steel, wood, acrylic lacquer, steel, nylon, plastic
45 x 14 x 12 in. (114.3 x 35.6 x 30.5 cm)
Assembly: 69 x 16 1/2 x 12 in. (175.3 x 41.9 x 30.5 cm)
After Antonio Corradini (1668–1752), La Purità, 1720–1725, Ca’ Rezzonico, Venice
2000–2007
Mexican onyx, stainless steel, 24K gold, various other metals
Each stone figure: 22 x 5 1/4 x 8 in. (each 55.9 x 13.3 x 20.3 cm)
Each stone / shaft assembly: 55 x 5 1/4 x 8 in. (each 139.7 x 13.3 x 20.3 cm)
Forin Collection, Bassano del Grappa, Italy
Sculpture: Pakistani Onyx, stainless steel
23 x 17 1/4 x 9 1/2 in. (58.4 x 43.8 x 24.1 cm)
Pedestal: Macedonian marble, stainless steel, wood, acrylic lacquer, steel, nylon, plastic
45 x 14 x 12 in. (114.3 x 35.6 x 30.5 cm)
Assembly: 68 x 17 1/4 x 12 in. (172.7 x 43.8 x 30.5 cm)
After Giusto Le Court (1627–1679), La Invidia, circa 1670, Ca’ Rezzonico, Venice
Sculpture: Mexican onyx, stainless steel
24 x 16 1/2 x 11 1/4 in. (61 x 41.9 x 28.6 cm)
Pedestal: Macedonian marble, stainless steel, wood, acrylic lacquer, steel, nylon, plastic
45 x 14 x 12 in. (114.3 x 35.6 x 30.5 cm)
Assembly: 69 x 16 1/2 x 12 in. (175.3 x 41.9 x 30.5 cm)
After Antonio Corradini (1668–1752), La Purità, 1720–1725, Ca’ Rezzonico, Venice
Saint Bartholomew Flayed, 2011–2020
Sculpture: French Rouge de Roi marble, stainless steel
87 3/16 x 35 3/8 x 36 1/4 in. (221.4 x 89.8 x 92 cm)
Platform: aluminum, acrylic lacquer, stainless steel, ABS plastic
5 3/4 x 59 1/2 x 59 1/2 in. (14.6 x 151.5 x 151.5 cm)
Assembly: 93 1/8 x 59 1/2 x 59 1/2 in. (236.6 x 151.5 x 151.5 cm)
After Marco d’Agrate (c. 1504–c. 1574), San Bartolomeo, 1562, Duomo di Milano, Italy
Courtesy of the Artist and Fergus McCaffrey – New York, Tokyo, St. Barth
Sculpture: translucent pink Iranian onyx
18 1/2 x 68 x 35 11/16 in. (47 x 172.6 x 90.7 cm)
Pedestal: Greek Thassos marble, stainless steel
23 x 74 3/4 x 41 1/2 in. (58.4 x 189.9 x 105.4 cm)
Assembly: 41 1/2 x 74 3/4 x 41 1/2 in. (105.4 x 189.9 x 105.4 cm)
After the Hermaphrodite Endormi (Ermafrodito Borghese), Musée du Louvre, Paris (ex Collezione Borghese, Roma), discovered near the Baths of Diocletian in 1608, figure and drapery Roman Imperial Period (2nd century A.D.) after a Greek original (2nd century B.C.), figure restorations by David Larique (1619), bed addition by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1619)
Courtesy of the Artist and Fergus McCaffrey – New York, Tokyo, St. Barth
