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May 30, 2008 9:37 am
Dust bunnies, dirt, old toothpicks, sugar cubes, and tiny pieces of poo are usually banished from galleries, not presented as important art. But Tom Friedman is an artist beloved for his witty and wondrous ways with the ickier aspects of everyday life. In “Monsters and Stuff,” the American conceptual sculptor’s first solo show at the Gagosian Gallery’s London branch, he presents a series of works made of scrap wood, small drawings on tinfoil, and huge paper collages, including one titled “Overseer”—a nine-foot-tall naked monster covered in body hair and wearing nothing but giant sneakers and socks. Friedman explains that “from a figurative standpoint,” the “monsters” of the title represents the abnormal, which is open-ended, whereas “and stuff” “states an unresolved conclusion.” Happily for us, “Monsters and Stuff” resolves itself by making the little things in life seem admirably more than normal.
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