Continuing through December 17, 2011
Andrew Witkin works in clean geometries of common objects, including squared-off chairs, simple tables, and stacked sheets of paper. Using pale apple plywood, a pile of white, button-down shirts, and text that repeats from one piece to the next, the artist’s spare installations are quite compelling.
Constructed at right angles, Witkin’s minimalist chairs are stand-ins for actual furniture, as the hard wooden structures are certainly not meant to support the weight of a person. Stacked on the floor next to a single chair, however, a sloping pile of folded shirts adds a sense of imperfection.
A table for three (with the fourth side against a wall) is set with papers instead of plates, as if each person has a story to tell. Alphabetically-arranged, the text reads, “object, one, open-ended, order, passive, people, place, places, play.” In this quiet seating arrangement, there is one conversation: every person has the same lines, the same worries, the same preoccupations.
