Brody Albert at Hunter Shaw Fine Art

Intrigued by an array of broken windows that line the side of an abandoned building near his home in Lincoln Heights, Brody Albert investigated the site further—the abandoned lot is filled with rocks that passersby chuck through the glass windows, creating an ad hoc communal action drawing. For his new show at Hunter Shaw Fine Art, Albert went about dutifully recreating the windows from the building through an involved process of mold-making and casting. Once the windows were cast in polymer gypsum, he used a water jet cutter to remove the broken shards of glass—the process mimicking the rupture of throwing rock to window (albeit through more methodical means). In the gallery, the cast windows line one wall, their paned surfaces recalling a minimalist grid while the rhythmic pattern of fissures creates an almost language-like flow.

Another floor-bound sculpture in the gallery is a small cast rolling suitcase that appears to slump in the center under a pool of water. Outfitted with a pump, the epoxy and fiberglass sculpture expunges water to feed the pool every couple of minutes, and it continues to fill and drain on a continuous loop like a dejected fountain. The exhibition, titled Empty, Except for the Ghost, points to traces of life and community, yet also feels skeletal—recreations of ephemera that only show traces of interaction.

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Photo: Brody Albert, Empty, Except for the Ghost at Hunter Shaw Fine Art. Photos: Ruben Diaz.