CODY HOYT + ALEXANDER KORI GIRARD | OCTOBER 22

In Cody Hoyt and Alexander Kori Girard’s upcoming show at Johansson Projects, patterned forms and organic geometries come together in an unique exploration of functional permanence and mystic communication.

Cody Hoyt’s ceramics are rigorously drawn, curiously angular, and intricately patterned, creating brutalist organic “vessels” that question the need for function over form. The forms are constructed from patterned slabs, which are themselves assembled from smaller individual pieces; a highly individualized framework for a three dimensional exploration of pattern and abstraction. Surface and material masterfully fuse to create a form that blurs the boundaries between utility and beauty. The historical associations of sharp lines and angles reference origami, the machine age and cubist space. Their openings are not an entry point or mechanism of display, rather a fissure within the vessel, completing its aesthetic design. The forms are cracked and ruptured within their pastel-toned markings, an unpredictable result of the mixing of elements revealed during the firing process. Yet, despite their perceived instability, Hoyt’s vessels are solid and permanent in their delicate nature.
At first glance, Alexander Kori Girard’s works register visually as paper cut outs or prints, but each piece is individually hand drawn and meticulously painted. Perhaps influenced by his work in the world of high design and textiles, his craftsmanship and composition are both precise and organic. His artwork presents a narrative of how people experience and interact with the natural world, and an immediate personal connection is easily made to each piece. Evoking a magical feeling of an apparition, his petroglyphs are at once a shapeless void and a collection of familiar symbols. Elements of modern folk lore and story-telling are also integral: His grandfather, the legendary Alexander Girard, was a prolific collector of folk art, and Girard was submerged in this relation at a young age. His organic works thus contain an essential feeling of home. They are timelessly archetypal and fantastical, an homage to the healing power of nature.

Johansson Projects is a contemporary art gallery that functions as a curatorial laboratory, creating exhibitions that pair established and internationally-recognized artists with up-and-coming locals. With no show confined purely to gallery walls it prompts viewers to actively engage with artists who explore the mysteries embedded in modernity often using unorthodox materials and methods. Johansson Projects is a locus for curators, collectors, and artists to connect and engage in dialogue with the larger art community both regionally and nationally.

2300 Telegraph Avenue,
Oakland, CA
94612

This release was published on openPR.