Transmute
Johnny Thornton and Michael Watson
Gowanus Dredgers
Exhibition: September 1—September 29, 2018 | Opening Reception: September 1, 2018, 5—8 PM
165 2nd Street
Brooklyn NY 11231
Transmute is a two-person exhibition featuring the works of Johnny Thornton and Michael Watson. This exhibition is focused on themes of transformation through the use of repurposed materials. Using remnants of objects or artworks, both artists create assemblages that transmute these remains into new forms. This metaphorical use of material and the embedded physicality in the works of both artists create a metamorphosis of decay into new and uncanny amalgamated forms.
Watson’s installation is a series of 8’ wood stubs painted matte black and attached together with cross braces to create a structure. Attached to the frame are colorful wooden blocks in various clusters and patterns dispersed over the entire surface. The wooden blocks are off-cuts that Watson has repurposed to create forms resembling ornate reliefs and architectural fragments. The various shapes of blocks are painted in neon blues, pinks and greens in stenciled layers that create a vibrant rhythm and vibration when combined together. His choice of colors and forms points towards a mysterious, unfamiliar body and architecture. In making this work, Watson views these assemblages as amalgamated bodies that have emerged out of the decay and depravity of a postindustrial, toxic landscape to become something entirely new.
