The psychedelic experimentation of artists throughout the 1960s marked an entirely new motif in sculpting. In addition to minimalists and conceptualists, an artist movement known as the Finnish Fetishists was born from the surf and car culture of sunny California. These artists worked with plastics, resins, and polished wood – the same materials used in making surfboards. This movement peaked in the late 1970’s but recently has seen a resurgence in a new generation of sculptors, like Brooklyn-based artist Jesse Greenberg.
Greenberg’s plastic and resin stylings add a futuristic, almost sci-fi dimension to sculpture, producing colors and shapes that appear to have been interrupted while pulsing and oozing. He achieves this unique visual effect by heating colorful urethane plastics and translucent resins into liquid form, and quickly manipulating them before they harden into amorphous structures.
Greenberg finds much of his inspiration in the horror films of David Cronenberg, which feature putrid cinematic effects that meld machine and human flesh. His work is also largely influenced by a desire to visually confuse his audience. He will meld elements beyond recognition until the materials are largely unidentifiable, deeming a sculpture a success once his viewers are sufficiently dumbfounded.
Greenberg’s sculptures have garnered much attention at art fairs in recent years and most recently was shown at the Derek Eller Gallery in New York.
Fascinated by Jesse’s work? Check out his whole portfolio here.
