This past weekend I checked out the Stanley Edmondson’s exhibition at Nicodim Gallery in DTLA (on view through June 26, 2021). Nicodim is one of several galleries in the 1700 S. Santa Fe arts building so I make sure to plan a day when I can see them all. Manifesting this now, there are several open offices in that complex and I’d love for one to be mine.
“Stanley’s Circus” is Edmondson’s first exhibition with Nicodim Gallery. It’s inspired by Alexander Calder’s 1926 “Cirque Calder”. You can check out a quirky video performance of it here. Calder was an American artist who you may know for his metal and wire mobiles, however, the Circus is one of his most beloved works.
Image courtesy of The Whitney Museum
The “Circus” was a toy theater piece that Calder constructed between 1926-1931 and performed for decades. He created a complete miniature big-top out of wire models that are rigged to perform. The characters represent contortionists, sword eaters, lion tamers, and an elaborate troupe of animals in an environment with nets, flags, a trapeze, carpets and lamps. The models are made from various easy to find household materials items like wire, wood, and bits of metal. Although the whimsy of the model brings joy in itself, the commentary and choreographed performances were the highlight of the show as they could last for hours in both French and English.
Edmondson considered Calder’s traveling circus over the past year and the joy that it brought to small, crowded Parisian salons. He wanted to contrast this with the current global pandemic, where experiencing things indoors with other individuals could be dangerous. Unlike Calder’s miniature circus, Edmondson created a larger than life ceramic circus that viewers could engage with, walking around the performers and viewing the abstracted trampolines/equipment on a much different scale.
Nicodim has two gallery spaces in the 1700 S. Santa Fe building, one is on the first and the fourth floors. The first floor houses the majority of the larger than life sculptures in this exhibition: a performer doing a hand stand, a cactus planter that looks like primitive pants, and an arch that you can almost walk though. There are props scattered throughout the space, a large rake, a pedestal, a twisted cage. The fourth floor space includes several dozen table top sculptures and vessels scattered across unfinished wooden pedestals. The sculptures are whimsical and filled with wonder. The viewer can’t help but to smile at the use of color and the playful shapes. I love that the construction is evident in these pieces with finger prints and drips of glaze. Their imperfections make them human and even more relateable.
Stanley Edmondson has been a lifelong printmaker and ceramicist, working out of his studio in Pasadena, CA. You can see more of his work here. He works predominately in homemade clay, embracing the Bauhaus practice of combining craft with fine art. His sculptures are earthy, raw, aware of their own materiality, and reminiscent of art brut.