David Nolan Gallery
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Home
  • Exhibitions
  • Artists
  • Art fairs
  • Publications
  • News
  • History
  • Contact
Menu

MEL KENDRICK: Cutting Corners,

March 7 - April 13, 2024

MEL KENDRICK: Cutting Corners

Past exhibition
  • Overview
  • Installation Views
  • Press
  • Artist
  • Overview
    MEL KENDRICK, Cutting Corners

    What first drew me to Mel Kendrick’s work more than 20 years ago was the total immediacy of his sculptures in the round: playful, fresh and full of vitality. I found them incredibly smart, both rough and sophisticated in all the right ways. I thought of Constantin Brancusi rather than Naum Gabo; rather than an inscrutable intellectualism, the works possessed a powerful physicality. – David Nolan

     

    David Nolan Gallery is delighted to announce an exhibition of new works by Mel Kendrick titled Cutting Corners, the artist’s first solo exhibition since his celebrated 2021 traveling museum retrospective. The show will include wood sculptures created within the past twelve months, along with works on paper. Mel Kendrick: Cutting Corners, Kendrick’s eighth solo exhibition with the gallery, will be on view from March 7 through April 13, 2024.

    Over the course of five decades, Kendrick has established himself as a preeminent American sculptor, pushing the boundaries of the medium through a rigorous and sustained commitment to discerning a work through the process of making it. Though often mentioned in relation to artists such as Sol LeWitt for his conceptual underpinnings, Dorothea Rockburne for her mathematically driven processes, Eva Hesse for her expansive use of materials, and Martin Puryear for his minimalist treatment of wood, Kendrick remains a singular figure in his open and experimental approach to what he has called “drawing within a material.” The famed 2009 installation of five monumental black and white conctrete sculptures in Madison Square Park, New York, demonstrated Kendrick’s prowess as a public art sculptor. 

    With a material ingenuity and formal inventiveness, Kendrick transforms single blocks of wood into optical puzzles, carving parts from the whole only to reassemble them atop or alongside the excavated base. In this elegant economy of both form and material, nothing is ever wasted, nor is anything added; each block is a question that contains its own answer. The result is something akin to a visual fugue: independent geometric systems are built up within a single composition to create a complex and dazzling harmonic whole, celebrating and complicating their own material and conceptual logic.

    Self-contained and self-referential, Kendrick’s works bear the evidence of their own making and, crucially, the struggles, errors and mistakes inherent in that process. Graphite marks, paint drips, saw cuts, and fingerprints are all layers of information, markers along a timeline, as if the sculptures were not so much finished pieces as they are stopping points at particular moments within the continuum of creation. And while the wood grain always remains visible, even under a layer of Japan paint, each step in Kendrick’s process of assembling, carving and reassembling the wood blocks seems to further remove the material from its ecological origins and push it toward a uniquely physical (rather than theoretical) abstraction.

    Indeed, as Kendrick has continued to evolve and reinvent himself within his distinct visual language, his free-standing and pedestal-based works have acquired a new weightiness and thickness, with heavy wood, steel and concrete bases that connect them with the floor. The works have a mass and gravity, an earth-bound physicality, that’s countered by their dynamic movement and energy, with lyrical curves and rounded pieces repeated and stacked in undulating cascades. Bands of black, white and yellow Japan paint pull the viewer from section to section, weaving in and out of negative space, from the ostensible front to what could be its reverse, in an elaborately playful game. As the viewer attempts to mentally reassemble the sculpture’s constituent parts, the artist confounds our ideas of perception and materiality.

  • Installation Views
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Dn 24 03 07 Install 001 Lance Brewer
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Dn 24 03 07 Install 003 Lance Brewer
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Dn 24 03 07 Install 008 Lance Brewer
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Dn 24 03 07 Install 007 Lance Brewer
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Dn 24 03 07 Install 015 Lance Brewer
    • Mel Kendrick Cell (G), 2013 cast paper and carbon black pigment 30 x 22 in (76.2 x 55.9 cm) framed: 33 3/4 x 25 3/4 x 1 3/4 in (85.7 x 65.4 x 4.4 cm)
      Mel Kendrick
      Cell (G), 2013
      cast paper and carbon black pigment
      30 x 22 in (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
      framed: 33 3/4 x 25 3/4 x 1 3/4 in (85.7 x 65.4 x 4.4 cm)
    • Mel Kendrick Drift, 2024 fir and gesso 45 x 32 x 19 in (114.3 x 81.3 x 48.3 cm) Steel base: 14 1/2 x 36 x 22 in
      Mel Kendrick
      Drift, 2024
      fir and gesso
      45 x 32 x 19 in (114.3 x 81.3 x 48.3 cm)
      Steel base: 14 1/2 x 36 x 22 in
      Inquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EMel%20Kendrick%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EDrift%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2024%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Efir%20and%20gesso%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E45%20x%2032%20x%2019%20in%20%28114.3%20x%2081.3%20x%2048.3%20cm%29%3Cbr/%3E%0ASteel%20base%3A%2014%201/2%20x%2036%20x%2022%20in%3C/div%3E
    • Mel Kendrick Rumble, 2024 ebonized mahogany with Japan color 62 x 41 x 18 in (157.5 x 104.1 x 45.7 cm) Steel base: 5 x 40 x21 in
      Mel Kendrick
      Rumble, 2024
      ebonized mahogany with Japan color
      62 x 41 x 18 in (157.5 x 104.1 x 45.7 cm)
      Steel base: 5 x 40 x21 in
      Inquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EMel%20Kendrick%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3ERumble%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2024%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Eebonized%20mahogany%20with%20Japan%20color%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E62%20x%2041%20x%2018%20in%20%28157.5%20x%20104.1%20x%2045.7%20cm%29%3Cbr/%3E%0ASteel%20base%3A%205%20x%2040%20x21%20in%3C/div%3E
    • Mel Kendrick Untitled, 2024 mahogany and gesso 20 x 12 x 14 in (50.8 x 30.5 x 35.6 cm) Steel base: 31 1/2 x 18 x 18 in
      Mel Kendrick
      Untitled, 2024
      mahogany and gesso
      20 x 12 x 14 in (50.8 x 30.5 x 35.6 cm)
      Steel base: 31 1/2 x 18 x 18 in
    • Mel Kendrick Twin Locks, black and yellow, 1997 woodblock on Kozo paper mounted on linen 108 x 96 in (274.32 x 243.84 cm) unique
      Mel Kendrick
      Twin Locks, black and yellow, 1997
      woodblock on Kozo paper mounted on linen
      108 x 96 in (274.32 x 243.84 cm)
      unique
      Inquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EMel%20Kendrick%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3ETwin%20Locks%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3Eblack%20and%20yellow%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E1997%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Ewoodblock%20on%20Kozo%20paper%20mounted%20on%20linen%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E108%20x%2096%20in%20%28274.32%20x%20243.84%20cm%29%3Cbr/%3E%0Aunique%3C/div%3E
    • Mel Kendrick Untitled, 2022 cast rubber and black pigment in wooden frame 60 x 48 x 3/4 in (152.4 x 121.9 x 1.9 cm) framed: 62 x 50 x 2 3/4 in (157.5 x 127 x 7 cm)
      Mel Kendrick
      Untitled, 2022
      cast rubber and black pigment in wooden frame
      60 x 48 x 3/4 in (152.4 x 121.9 x 1.9 cm)
      framed: 62 x 50 x 2 3/4 in (157.5 x 127 x 7 cm)
      Inquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EMel%20Kendrick%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EUntitled%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Ecast%20rubber%20and%20black%20pigment%20in%20wooden%20frame%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E60%20x%2048%20x%203/4%20in%20%28152.4%20x%20121.9%20x%201.9%20cm%29%3Cbr/%3E%0Aframed%3A%2062%20x%2050%20x%202%203/4%20in%20%28157.5%20x%20127%20x%207%20cm%29%3C/div%3E
    • Mel Kendrick The Anchor, 2024 ebonized mahogany with Japan color 27 3/4 x 33 1/4 x 13 1/2 in (70.5 x 84.5 x 34.3 cm) Steel base: 36 x 19x 30 in
      Mel Kendrick
      The Anchor, 2024
      ebonized mahogany with Japan color
      27 3/4 x 33 1/4 x 13 1/2 in (70.5 x 84.5 x 34.3 cm)
      Steel base: 36 x 19x 30 in
      Inquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EMel%20Kendrick%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EThe%20Anchor%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2024%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Eebonized%20mahogany%20with%20Japan%20color%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E27%203/4%20x%2033%201/4%20x%2013%201/2%20in%20%2870.5%20x%2084.5%20x%2034.3%20cm%29%3Cbr/%3E%0ASteel%20base%3A%2036%20x%2019x%2030%20in%3C/div%3E
    • Mel Kendrick Untitled, 2024 ebonized mahogany with Japan color 32 x 19 x 15 in (81.3 x 48.3 x 38.1 cm)
      Mel Kendrick
      Untitled, 2024
      ebonized mahogany with Japan color
      32 x 19 x 15 in (81.3 x 48.3 x 38.1 cm)
      Inquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EMel%20Kendrick%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EUntitled%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2024%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Eebonized%20mahogany%20with%20Japan%20color%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E32%20x%2019%20x%2015%20in%20%2881.3%20x%2048.3%20x%2038.1%20cm%29%3C/div%3E
    • Mel Kendrick Cutting Corners, 2024 ebonized mahogany with Japan color 52 1/2 x 29 x 15 in (133.3 x 73.7 x 38.1 cm) Hydrocal base: 9 x 32 x 32 in
      Mel Kendrick
      Cutting Corners, 2024
      ebonized mahogany with Japan color
      52 1/2 x 29 x 15 in (133.3 x 73.7 x 38.1 cm)
      Hydrocal base: 9 x 32 x 32 in
      Inquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EMel%20Kendrick%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3ECutting%20Corners%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2024%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Eebonized%20mahogany%20with%20Japan%20color%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E52%201/2%20x%2029%20x%2015%20in%20%28133.3%20x%2073.7%20x%2038.1%20cm%29%3Cbr/%3E%0AHydrocal%20base%3A%209%20x%2032%20x%2032%20in%3C/div%3E
    • Mel Kendrick Stringer, 2023 ebonized mahogany and EPS foam 44 1/2 x 34 x 16 in (113 x 86.4 x 40.6 cm) Hydrocal base: 18 x 38 x29 in
      Mel Kendrick
      Stringer, 2023
      ebonized mahogany and EPS foam
      44 1/2 x 34 x 16 in (113 x 86.4 x 40.6 cm)
      Hydrocal base: 18 x 38 x29 in
      Inquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EMel%20Kendrick%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EStringer%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2023%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Eebonized%20mahogany%20and%20EPS%20foam%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E44%201/2%20x%2034%20x%2016%20in%20%28113%20x%2086.4%20x%2040.6%20cm%29%3Cbr/%3E%0AHydrocal%20base%3A%2018%20x%2038%20x29%20in%3C/div%3E
    • Mel Kendrick Untitled, 2023 ebonized mahogany with gesso 22 x 25 x 3 in (55.9 x 63.5 x 7.6 cm) Concrete base: 12 x 14 x 14 in Steel base: 30 1/4 x 15 x 15 in
      Mel Kendrick
      Untitled, 2023
      ebonized mahogany with gesso
      22 x 25 x 3 in (55.9 x 63.5 x 7.6 cm)
      Concrete base: 12 x 14 x 14 in
      Steel base: 30 1/4 x 15 x 15 in
      Inquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EMel%20Kendrick%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EUntitled%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2023%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Eebonized%20mahogany%20with%20gesso%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E22%20x%2025%20x%203%20in%20%2855.9%20x%2063.5%20x%207.6%20cm%29%3Cbr/%3E%0AConcrete%20base%3A%2012%20x%2014%20x%2014%20in%3Cbr/%3E%0ASteel%20base%3A%2030%201/4%20x%2015%20x%2015%20in%3C/div%3E
    • Mel Kendrick Static Object, 2024 wood with tar 42 x 20 1/2 x 17 in (106.7 x 52.1 x 43.2 cm)
      Mel Kendrick
      Static Object, 2024
      wood with tar
      42 x 20 1/2 x 17 in (106.7 x 52.1 x 43.2 cm)
      Inquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EMel%20Kendrick%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EStatic%20Object%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2024%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Ewood%20with%20tar%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E42%20x%2020%201/2%20x%2017%20in%20%28106.7%20x%2052.1%20x%2043.2%20cm%29%3C/div%3E
    • Mel Kendrick Untitled, 2024 mahogany with gesso and charcoal 31 x 14 1/2 x 9 in (78.7 x 36.8 x 22.9 cm)
      Mel Kendrick
      Untitled, 2024
      mahogany with gesso and charcoal
      31 x 14 1/2 x 9 in (78.7 x 36.8 x 22.9 cm)
  • Press

    • News

      Mel Kendrick: Cutting Corners

      Barbara A. MacAdam · Brooklyn Rail April 23, 2024
      In this rich, dense, and compact show, Mel Kendrick focuses on his generally solid, large, puzzle-like sculptures, most in his current signature tones of yellow and black, creating a dynamic...
    • News

      Mel Kendrick: Cutting Corners

      Elena Clavarino · Air Mail April 18, 2024
      “Every sculpture is only a point in time,” the American artist Mel Kendrick has said. “Every object could go further.” Kendrick, born in 1949, has dedicated his life to sculpture,...
    • News

      Our Mid-March Picks of New York City Art Shows

      John Yau · Hyperallergic March 18, 2024
      Mel Kendrick: Cutting Corners Mel Kendrick doesn’t like to waste anything. When he cuts a cylindrical form out of a thick block of wood, what he removes becomes part of...
    • News

      Four Upper East Side Powerhouse Galleries to Visit This Spring

      Annabel Keenan · Avenue March 11, 2024
      A staple of the New York art scene since 1987, David Nolan Gallery established itself with locations in SoHo and Chelsea before making the Upper East Side its home in...
  • Artist
    • MEL KENDRICK

      MEL KENDRICK

Back to exhibitions

24 EAST 81ST STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10028

+1 (212) 925-6190
INFO@DAVIDNOLANGALLERY.COM

David Nolan Gallery

Instagram, opens in a new tab.
Join the mailing list
View on Google Maps
Privacy Policy
Accessibility Policy
Manage cookies
© Copyright David Nolan Gallery 2024
Site by Artlogic

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful to you. Please contact us to find out more about our Cookie Policy.

Manage cookies
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences
Close

MAILING LIST SIGN-UP

By completing this form, you confirm that you would like to subscribe to DAVID NOLAN’s mailing list and receive information about exhibitions and upcoming events. Your email address will be used exclusively for the mailing list service. 

Sign-up

* denotes required fields

We will process the personal data you have supplied to communicate with you in accordance with our Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.