The Gold Standard is Lisa Gralnick’s most recent body of work. A series in three parts, it explores the relationship between gold’s history and lore and its function as a commodity in today’s world. Thought-provoking, powerful and extremely well crafted, Gralnick’s jewelry and sculptural works question our relationship to the material world.
In Commodification and Sensible Economy, Gralnick casts used and personal objects in 18k gold and plaster, calculating the ratio of gold to plaster on the basis of the market value of the object and the value of gold at a set date. Section two, Phenomenology and Substantialism, was borne out of the artist’s need to buy gold at an affordable price to melt down and recover the gold. Gralnick “recorded” these objects before destroying them by casting them in plaster, leaving an eerie ghost of each object behind. In Transubstantiation and the Historicized Object, the artist employs the recycled gold from part two to create an ironic collection of objects with invented histories – genuine forgeries inspired by her fascination with the Victorian era and its obsession with the body, death, sexuality and the repression of women. With each section, the artist delves deeper into the unique aspects of value – both personal and societal – that make an object precious.
Gralnick is currently a Professor of Art at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, a position she has held for eight years. Previously she was head of the metals program at Parsons School of Design in New York City. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Arts and Design, Racine Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Lisa Gralnick: The Gold Standard is organized by Bellevue Arts Museum and curated by Nora Atkinson. This exhibition has been made possible by The Rotasa Foundation and Art Jewelry Forum. |
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