Archived Exhibition
Gyöngy Laky | Reading Geometries
May 12 – June 11, 2011
Reception: Saturday, May 14, 3:00 - 5:00PM
Artist Biography
Gyöngy Laky's structures consist of words, letters and symbols as well as abstract sculptural forms which belie layers of meaning. The incongruity of painted and stained branches and nails or screws protruding, hint at the complex relationship humans have with nature.
While the works are often elegant, meticulously constructed and even lyrical, her characteristic sharp, slant cuts heighten the edginess. Laky notes of her approach, “I am attracted by things that are slightly irritating or uncomfortable or off balance or even, sometimes, grotesque.” Laky adds when describing her work. “I like it when we are puzzled and do not have ready answers."
In her work, Laky makes a single letter function as a sentence and a single word or sign as narrative. Using form, arrangement, dimensionality, material, texture and pattern, Laky finds the intersections of symbol, word, thought and imagination.
Gyöngy Laky is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Davis. Her work is in museum collections in Europe and the United States, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Oakland Museum of California.
Please click on
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The Willing, 2010, ash wood, paint and concrete screws, 26 x 23 x 2.5 inches |
Reading Geometries, 2009, telephone wire, 7 x 5.5 x 5.5 inches |
And Too Much Apple Pie, 2010, apple wood, paint and screws, 42 x 44 x 45 inches |
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Baby Oil, 2009
Plastic babies, black acrylic
9 x 9 x 9 inches |
Chance Encounter, 2009
Walnut wood, paint, dowels
62 x 12 x 2 inches |
Choking Hazard, 2011
Plastic Soldiers and pins
18 x 10 x 2 inches |
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Domain Change, 2009
Commercial wood, paint, screws
42 x 25 x 7 inches |
Dry Land Drifter, 2010
Dead tree, bullets for building
32 x 26 inches |
Ghosting Along, 2011
Ash wood, crutch, metal leaf, paint
58 x 26 x 2 inches |
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Give and Take, 2009
Manzanita wood, red ink, bullets for building
31 x 32 x 4 inches |
If Not Now, When?, 2008
Ash wood, commercial wood, paint, dowels
18 x 66 x 3 inches |
Invitation, 2011
Aluminum wire, plum branches, photographic tape, electrical wire
15 x 17 inches |
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Longing for Tomorrow, 2009
Chopsticks, paint, brass brads
27 x 16 x 3 inches |
And Too Much Apple Pie, 2010
Apple wood, paint, screws
42 x 44 x 5 inches |
Natura Facit Saltum, 2011
Apple wood, screws, paint
20 x 22 inches |
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Neo-Rupee, 2011
Surplus nails, leather, wood
39 x 18 x 3 inches |
Shifting Currents, 2011
Mulberry wood, desk screws, paint
16 x 28 inches |
The Willing, 2010
Ash wood, plastic soldiers, blue concrete screws, paint
26 x 23 x 3 inches |
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Why?, 2011
Commercial wood, plastic soldiers, screws, paint
48 x 26 x 7 inches |
Writing On The Wall, 2011
Ash wood, paint, dowels
90 x 90 x 3 inches |
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