joe davis at annex gallery
Rewired Redoux
“Sometime during the 17 years I’ve owned a home in Marfa, TX, I started noticing an abnormal amount of wire laying here and there in streets and alleys all around town. A number of years ago I started collecting it and began pinning it to the walls of my studio. With reverence to the original twisted, tangled shapes and rusted surfaces, I have since been creating wire objects and drawings in an effort to give some of these beautiful shapes new life. In a way, This discarded wire has also given me new life.” -Joe Davis
The unruly wire interrupts the flanking stoic objects confined by their previous function. The strands’ smushed yet discernibly circular shapes participate in the rhythm of the triptych while providing movement to an otherwise static illustration.
Davis was gifted this twisted shelving unit from Scott Hocking’s studio. Rather than wrestle it back into its intended utility, form becomes beauty flawlessly rendered. The subject’s faint shadow favors a comfortably centered composition.
Sporting the only color in the exhibition, the powder covered wire loops with random washers complement strips of wood installed at regular intervals in graphical arrangement.
Lines collaborate into a geometrical configuration gently holding the floating rectangle like a bird in a cage. Davis’s cubes are measured but not particularly precise allowing perceptible presence of the maker’s hand.
Taking cues from Donald Judd’s design aesthetic and legacy in Marfa, these works rely on composition with exceptional drawing and construction skills to successfully effect interest. Each piece quietly engages the viewer to consider what was once discarded reimagined to wall and pedestal status.
On view through 6/15 at Annex Gallery 333 Midland Street Highland Park
*images are mine
excerpt from the artist statement
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