I made a repeat visit to East Harlem last week, this time to see a fantastic exhibition by New York-based artist, Roland Gebhardt, who was making his debut at David Richard Gallery.

“New Work – Floor and Wall Sculptures” is his solo presentation of new studio works included 14 wall-mounted sculptures produced from 2017 through 2019 in a variety of materials, including zinc, aluminum and paper. 

With their angled cuts and undulations from the various materials, these art works have the appearance of floating on the wall, a nod to the notion of illusory space. 

Untitled (Plates 0018). Aluminum

“Gebhardt creates an internal tension within his wall sculptures that successfully suggests the possibility of a three-dimensional structure in a two-dimensional plane,” said the gallery in a press statement.

The main art work, however, is the debut of a new installation piece comprised of 49 vertical wooden columns with slices removed in Gebhardt’s usual serial fashion that explore “various permutations of cuts and orientations on different faces, each placed on the floor in an array.” 

The columns are arranged in linear arrays as floor pieces with wide spaces between each that invite the viewer to walk in and around the installation.

“Gebhardt is known for his minimalist sculptures that he has been producing since the early 1970s. This particular presentation highlights current and new works and focuses on his ongoing exploration of space, or better yet, voids,” the gallery said in a press statement.

Roland Gebhardt was born in Paramaribo, Suriname 1939. He studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich and earned a Master of Fine Arts at the Art Academy of Hamburg. He is a sculptor working in a variety of media and exhibits internationally.

The exhibition is on view from January 26 – February 21, 2020 at David Richard Gallery located at 211 East 121 Street, New York.

Meanwhile, down in TriBeCa… I popped into The Journal Gallery (45 White Street) to see a small exhibition by Marco Pariani, an Italian artist now working in Brooklyn, and who says that one of his goals is “to go to live on the moon”. Indeed, his art is out-of-this-world and an enjoyable visual feast.

Born in 1986 in Busto Arsizio, Italy, Pariani received his BFA from the Academy of Fine Art of Brera in Milan. He works with several media — oil, acrylic and spray paint. His paintings certainly have an edgy street art feel.

“I really love spray paint I think that is really hard to use them and was a kind of challenge for me to learn from single caps and different brands. On canvas, spray paints are really important for me because I love the contrast with the acrylic colors,” said Pariani. “My style is a result of many years of work and I love to use contrasts between materials, like spray paint and acrylic, and colors, like green and pink, pink and grey and other colors that I love in particular inside my palette.”