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By RAFAEL RISEMBERG
Friday, December 15, 2006
Seductive. Luminous. Alien. Those are the first words that come to mind when in the presence of gay Australian artist Timothy Horn’s exhibit of large-scale suspended jellyfish at the newly opened Hosfelt Gallery in Chelsea. Made mostly of silicone rubber and fashioned into chandeliers, these creatures are positively ghostly when the gallery’s lights are turned off, leaving the sculptures to glow from the lighting fixtures embedded within. In the natural world, as it turns out, many species of jellyfish use bioluminescence to attract prey.
This show marks an auspicious New York solo debut for the artist, who is known elsewhere for his campy, larger-than-life decorative items, such as a 2-foot-long glass slipper made of crystal and nickel-plated bronze, and enlarged broaches several feet across that are barely liftable, let alone wearable. In enlarging emblematic objects, Horn re-contextualizes them to thought-provoking effect.
The three chandeliers that make up the current show are named after the mythological Gorgon sisters, who were said to be so monstrous looking that gazing at their faces would turn men into stone. The works that Horn has titled "Eurydale" and "Stheno" are huge, typically bell-shaped jellyfish, with four large tentacles hanging from each. "Medusa," which at almost 9 feet in diameter is the largest of the artist’s pieces, has a base that is broad and ruffled and most resembles a classically ornate chandelier, with crystal-like pendants dangling from its underside.
Rather than designing his sculptures from photos of jellyfish, the artist has based their likenesses on elaborate illustrations of jellyfish by the infamous 19th century zoologist Ernst Haeckel, whose images are celebrated for their beauty, but derided for their lack of scientific accuracy. Haeckel, like Horn, even incorporated some of his drawings into architectural structures in his home. In emulating Haeckel, Horn is choosing artifice over reality—another reflection of his camp sensibility and practice.
Careful scrutiny of Horn’s works reveals a further decorative aspect: The silicone segments are sewn together. Indeed, the artist has described the construction process as akin to dressmaking. After casting the pieces in silicone, he mounts them on copper tubing frames (much like antebellum dresses were situated on whalebone hoops and ribs), and then sews the pieces tight with monofilament thread.
With jellyfish as the subject matter for the current show, Horn reveals a more menacing side to camp; even as these sensual, exotic beings seduce, their stinging tentacles portend quick and painful injury. Nevertheless, standing underneath the otherworldly works, the viewer is pleasurably ensnared.
Villa Medusa, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Tues.–Sat., until Dec. 20, at Hosfelt Gallery, 531 W. 36th St., hosfeltgallery.com, 212-563-5454. Rafael Risemberg, Ph.D., leads gay & lesbian art gallery tours through New York Gallery Tours, nygallerytours.com, 212-946-1548. Next tours are Sat., Dec. 16, and Sat., Jan. 27.
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