Anthony Pearson at David Kordansky Gallery

Walking into Anthony Pearson’s solo exhibition at David Kordansky, I delighted in the stillness and playfulness of the forms on view, which are at once minimal and spontaneous. Made of pigmented plaster cast in fabric, the pieces retain textures and fibers in their hardened surfaces, giving them a fuzzy and gentle patina. They also take on the folds and curves of their cloth molds, and Pearson creates tender relationships between various shapes in each work, nesting them together like caressing puzzle pieces (these nested iterations are often titled “Coupled Casement,” heightening the feeling of a bonded pair). 

Installed at various heights around the gallery, the grouping reads as a unit, each one unique and with something to add to the gestalt of the whole. In a second gallery, bronze-cast wall works splay and worm in various directions to create idiosyncratic, almost alphabetic forms that squirm with implied movement. These are presented near pedestal-bound plaster cast works, whose forms feel almost unfinished (or at least unfamiliar), setting up a tension with the austerity of the cast bronze. Together, the works create a simple poetry spoken through form, material, and connective relationships. 

On view: July 23 – August 27, 2022

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Photo: Installation view, Anthony Pearson: Casements, July 23–August 27, 2022, David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles: Photo: Lee Thompson.