“Unidentified Dangerous Beautiful Objects: Sculpture and Works On Paper by Claire Lieberman”
an online exhibition
this online exhibition can be viewed at Artsy
Exhibition dates: July 15 – September 15 2022
Unidentified Dangerous Beautiful Objects: Sculpture and Works On Paper by Claire Lieberman brings together nineteen works in carved marble, handmade paper and relief prints. These mash-ups of children’s toys and lethal weapons embody the dichotomies of beauty and danger, seduction and destruction, indulgence and guilt, the sublime and the quirky. The works in this exhibition, all monochromatic, juxtapose aspects of Pop, Minimalism and Surrealism. This exhibition is online and can be viewed on Artsy through September 15, 2022.
above: “Rattle”, 2022 (l), “Grenade With Flowers”, 2017 (r). Black marble.
below: “Space Hibiscus”, 2022 (l). Linocut on Fabriano Artistico paper, edition of 20; “Starfleet”, 2017 (r). Relief print on hand made Korean paper, edition of 20.
My overarching project is exploring the reverberations of violence in contemporary culture through the lens of games and play. Games, strategy, and child’s play echo conflict and its repercussions. I want to make sculpture that is both gorgeous and raw.
Claire Lieberman
O ver the course of her career Claire Lieberman has created a sizable body of prints, many of which have been produced at Manneken Press, frequently using the medium to explore formal aspects of her 3-D work. Paper, however, is a new avenue for the artist. Her paper works are pulp-painted with black pulp over handmade sheets of cotton paper, produced in editions of 5. Many of these stark, graphic images relate directly to the marble work and stand as iconic diagrams of them. In addition to the paper works several relief prints are included in the exhibition as well.
above: “Big Butterfly”, 2022. Hand made paper with pulp painting, edition of 5.
L ieberman’s black marble sculptures have a totemic presence and can be read as ominous tokens in a kind of menacing board game. Their sleekly seductive forms, polished surfaces and weighty elegance are at once playful and vaguely antagonistic.
Her sculpture, paper works and prints are all beautifully and painstakingly made. In these works Lieberman unites conceptual rigor with an engagement with a tradition of craftsmanship and the time-honored media of stone carving, analog printmaking and hand papermaking.
Click here to view all of Claire Lieberman’s prints.
above: “Funny Ball”, 2022. Linocut on Fabriano Artistico paper, edition of 20.
Unidentified Dangerous Beautiful Objects: Sculpture and Works On Paper by Claire Lieberman can be viewed online on Artsy now through September 15, 2022.
Contact Manneken Press for additional information or to inquire about purchasing any of the works in the exhibition.
About the artist
Claire Lieberman is a contemporary artist based in Bloomington, IL and New York City, working in sculpture, installation and printmaking. Lieberman uses both traditional and experimental materials such as Jell-O, alabaster, wax, glass, rubber and marble, as well as video and photography to create installations that trigger a sense of dislocation. As a printmaker, Lieberman explores formal aspects of her often ephemeral sculptural works. Juxtaposing solid and ephemeral materials with static and kinetic imagery, Lieberman creates a surprising reality where the solidity and rigidity of image and material merge.
Claire Lieberman holds an MFA from Pratt Institute and a BFA from Tufts University. She has had solo and group exhibitions throughout the US and internationally, including the Chelsea Art Museum, NY; Forum Schlossplatz, Zurich; Mudac Museum, Lausanne; Seoul Art Center, Korea; Queens College Art Center, NY; and The LAB, NYC. Lieberman has completed public commissions in Providence, RI, Milwaukee, WI and Salina, KS. Lieberman’s work has been reviewed in Whitehot Magazine, Sculpture Magazine, the New York Times and Art On Paper. Lieberman has received awards from The MacDowell Residency (2022), Escape to Create (2022), The Arctic Circle, Territory of Svalbard; National Endowment for the Arts; Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris; Friche La Belle de Mai, Marseilles, France; Künstlerhaus, Salzburg; and Yaddo, Saratoga Springs.
