David Opdyke grew up Schenectady, New York, once known as a
beacon of American industry. "The City that Lights and Hauls the World"
was home to Thomas Edison's Machine Works, G.E. and ALCO. Coming of age
in the 1970's, Opdyke witnessed the rapid decline of manufacturing and
nature's subsequent takeover of a city's abandoned architectural
remains. Those images of transformation and decay permeate his work
today.
Working with an obsessive attention to detail, Opdyke
creates immersive art that both delights and disturbs. Hyperrealistic
models, intricate sculptures of detritus and civilization's waste, and
monuments to failed governmental policies comprise much of his work.
Opdyke meticulously handcrafts each piece, creating intricate worlds of
cryptic symbols, political metaphors, and freakish hybridity.
This
exhibition presents new sculpture and drawing in extremes of scale and
realism. Opdyke's miniatures include Exhibit A-- a pseudo-scientific
presentation of the domestic scraps of everyday life-- a child's teddy
bear, tangled ipod headphones and a deflated soccer ball. On view are
also larger sculptural installations, including Fixed Cycle-- a network
of flowering plumbing pipes, riffing on Opdyke's preoccupation with
waste, infrastructure, and systems of transmission.
Each piece is
a study in duality-- in one stroke, Opdyke condemns the bloated excess
and self-importance of America's political and material structures,
while concurrently reveling in the absurdity and inescapability of human
nature-- our innate drive to consume, expand, and exploit. The
obsessive intricacy of the pieces both attracts and repels the viewer.
Like a distorting carnival mirror, Opdyke's work is a reflection of the
vanity and perversions of our times.
David Opdyke's work has been
previously exhibited at The Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY, The
Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield, CT, The Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C.,
and numerous institutions across North America. His work has also been
shown in Milan and the Netherlands.
For further information, please contact Heather Dell at (212) 243 8830 or by email at Heather@brycewolkowitz.com.