Peter Everett: Utopia

Detail of Utopia (2012) by Peter Everett

Currently on view at the TAM, we have a few works by Peter Everett featured in the lobby and the exhibition hall. Our lobby sculpture is Utopia, a large dodecahedron, with faces of one-way mirrors, that encloses a model city. The structures are modeled on real-world financial buildings, but arranged in an idealized geometric grouping. This "Utopian" design is built upon a rotating platform and is reflected within the mirrors in an infinite regression.

Here's a video showing the work in motion, alongside its complementary video screens, which show historical examples of Utopian architecture:


Utopia installation view from Peter Everett on Vimeo.

In addition to the lobby sculpture, the exhibition hall features a collection of Everett's paintings.

Detail of Tongues (2011) by Peter Everett

But the exhibition is wrapping up this week. So, come on by the Torrance Art Museum and see these fine works before the curtain falls on the show.

We're looking forward to seeing you at the TAM.

Detail of Utopia (2012) by Peter Everett

Michelle Carla Handel: Big Yearn, Let Down

Big Yearn, Let Down (2012) by Michelle Carla Handel
Wood, fabric, silicone rubber, fiberfill, vinyl
87 x 65 x 22 inches
Courtesy of the artist

Although the TAM is closed until July 21, when "Baker's Dozen 4" opens, there are still a few pieces on the venue. Yeah, the general public can't easily view them, but, if you press up to the windows and peer into the unlit gloom of the lobby, then Michelle Carla Handel's engaging sculpture, Big Yearn, Let Down, can be seen, still standing simultaneously erect and flaccid.

Visitors to the recent show, "Between the Knowing", had plenty of opportunities to appreciate this playful work. It'll still be around when the next show opens. So, make certain to come and take a look at it. ;-)

It's an interesting piece. The material diversity creates a strong contrast between the rigid and the drooping, the glossy and the matte, the patterned and the plain. These two giant fabric staves, juxtaposed in an interpenetrating composition, create a playful contrast between bright desires and dark disappointments.

That's a quick and easy analysis, but the work has other tensions, subtle and technical, that will reward a longer scrutiny, viewed in person.

Detail of Big Yearn, Let Down (2012) by Michelle Carla Handel
Wood, fabric, silicone rubber, fiberfill, vinyl
87 x 65 x 22 inches
Courtesy of the artist


So, mark your calendars. The doors open on July 21 for "Baker's Dozen 4". Come see this cool sculpture and so much more!!!

We're looking forward to seeing you at the TAM.