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⁘ “The Woods Davy exhibition at Galerie Marie Laure
de L’Ecotais in Paris – the first of this artist in Europe – may cause
the most Cartesian (logical) of us to stop in their tracks. His
creations – outcroppings of stones – vacillate between balance and
tension, defying mathematic laws, and creating a surprising rapport
between opposing forces. The stones appear to float in the air,
renouncing their own identity as if their weight no longer existed.
They seem to be held in a precarious equilibrium, evoking a feeling of
total serenity. All of which leads us to wonder for what (bad) reasons
has his work just reached us!” ⁘ “For the past twenty-five
years, Davy has worked with natural elements, usually incorporating
various types of stone in fluid balancing acts that reflect the
artist’s “Western Zen” sensibility. The current body of work, entitled
“Cantamar,” is created from stones collected on a beach in Mexico of
the same name. The smooth, rounded, ovoid stones the artist collects
are naturally polished and shaped by years of rolling and tumbling from
wave to shore. Davy then assembles these stones in graceful, wave-like
arcs that seem to float in space.” ⁘ “Woods Davy might be thought
of as among the first
“green” Post Modern
artists. In fact, he comes from a long tradition of post ‘60s artists
like John Cage, who either directly or just by their practical
sensibility, engage Eastern or Zen notions of oneness with nature,
organic systems of change as engines of art composition, non-disruptive
respect for natural materials in unaltered states, and the fashioning
of objects that are not your typical museum pedestal works.” ⁘ “Despite the enduring
influence of Modernism’s
emphasis on material integrity – the paint-for-paint’s sake philosophy
that’s held sway for half a century - there is still something
thrilling about a work that appears to defy its own natural properties.
Such is the case with Woods Davy’s new stone sculpture at Craig Krull
Gallery, which flout the most basic law governing three-dimensional
work: gravity. In each case, the stones are joined end to end with
invisible stainless steel pins and appear to be magically floating. The
trick might come off as mere novelty, but for the quality of meditative
reverence that underpins it. The stones retain their organic form
despite their unnatural arrangement, and one is compelled to appreciate
– as Davy clearly does – the simple beauty of their shape and texture.
In this sense, the works function like a Zen rock garden and will no
doubt be better off in an environment more conducive than an art
gallery to the practice of contemplation.” ⁘ “Woods Davy’s unique
organic sensibility reemerges in his new Cantamar series, a gracefully
choreographed group of stone sculptures. Each one marches through space
in a horizontal line that is full of movement and underlying
complexity. Elegant and simple, Davy’s sculptures formally convey
refined rhythm. Because they are pared down to their essentials, the
works comprising the Cantamar series manage to illuminate the poetry of
nature.” ⁘ “Heaven’s Gate is
particularly Brancusian in its
conversion of hard
metal into supremely simple erotic poetry – but its eroticism, with the
implication of female sexuality as a spiritual power of divine
grandeur, is at the same time another profound identification with the
tribal African vision of reality.” ⁘ “Davy has become a
well-known figure on the urban landscape in recent years, both for his
widely visible public commissions, such as a major piece on Wilshire
Blvd., as well as many private collections. It was always easy to
recognize Davy’s work for its precarious balance of rocks perched on
heavy beams. Mixing an Asian sense of spareness with a sensitivity to
the tension between natural and urban structures, Davy’s work had found
its niche. So, like any good artist, he tried something new. New is
only half of it. Davy’s work is both a radical departure and a highly
successful one. The internal tensions and the concern for balance
remain, although the forms are no longer cantilevered beams; they are
folded steel tubes rising triumphantly from the floor like an
outcropping of silvery reeds. Reminiscent of Giaciometti’s attenuated
figures as well as the bondage of Michaelangelo’s slaves, these very
contemporary abstractions communicate an existential tension between
transcendence and restraint, freedom and limitation.” ⁘ “One of their
most stimulating shows (Works Gallery) features sculptures by Woods
Davy. Many may remember Davy’s trademark river stones and steel beams
from the past. The tightly balance units, which juxtapose the natural
versus the man-made and smooth versus rough, are Oriental in feel and
philosophical in mood. Well, folks, the new work is simply
breathtaking. The geometric, almost Mondrianlike feel of the sculpture
has been replaced by long sensuous verticals. A long piece of tubular
steel is bent in half and then compressed and coiled with a chain at
varying spots. The chain, seemingly tightened and bending the steel,
adds tremendous tension to the work as it breaks the teel’s smooth
lines. Furthermore, we are confronted by the symbolism of this art. The
steel becomes the prisoner of the chain. A dialogue is established,
raising probing questions. While still maintaining the intellectual
basis of his earlier work, Woods has added a punch to his presentation,
one not easily forgotten.” ⁘ “Woods Davy seeks nothing
less than to reconcile
the forces of nature
and technology – natural combatants in the urban landscape – in large,
site-related public sculptures. He attempts this by “balancing” (they
are really attached) naturally rounded riverbed stones on rust-colored
steel beams sliced and bolted into vertical and horizontal elements.
The precariously perched Los Angeles Riverbed stones – some standing
alone, others in clumps – seem to deny their own hardness and solidity
by appearing to melt over the edges, hanging and balancing like blobs
of soft, warm wax. If this is a reconciliation between nature and
technology, it is one in which nature clearly wins. But no one is
likely to argue with that.” “Critics choice:
Balancing seems to be a precarious trade – for a sculptor, that is –
especially when one deals with structural steel and large rocks. Yet,
as seen here in the studio, the results seem to float on air as if
suspended in gravity-defying weightlessness. The recent large sculpture
and tiny maquettes by Woods Davy are fascinating ways of juxtaposing
steel and stone, urban-stiff and natural-soft forms.” ⁘ “He is still concerned with
the same large
question: How does the
artist combine natural and technological form to forge an object that
transcends the sum of its parts? His sculptures, for the most part,
continue to provide convincing answers.” ⁘ “Woods Davy’s
new sculpture signals a bold change of direction. Swinging away from
his wood dominated works, his new pieces introduce large riverbed
stones, making the compositions more complex than earlier forms and far
more satisfying. It is a study in balance, a composition divided into
two levels. The first is made of tubular steel beams that form the
base. The steel creates a rhythm that, according to the artist, is a
system of “continuous, interlocking convoluted lines.” A tension within
the steel is resolved by the river stones, which form the second level.
The randomness of nature replaces the deliberateness of steel. Balance
and tension, calm and energy persist in every piece. Davy’s recent
growth and stylistic development are especially encouraging for future
work.” ⁘ “Woods Davy’s
sculptures play nature off against technology. Davy’s wallpieces and
freestanding ones both juxtapose lengths of rusted steel, in straight
lines and sharp angles, with sections of logs that have been mounted on
steel pedestals like precious objects. Of course, geometric form always
alludes to the rational mind and the Euclidean heritage that leads us
to believe that nature can be ordered, structured and controlled. In
Davy’s work, nature has been tamed, cut and fragmented: sections of
trees have been striped of their bark and appear pale and naked in
lonely yet lyrical isolation from their original environment. They are
at once stately, ominous and elegant in their contrast of subtle curves
to linear steel. These highly formal works poetically raise questions
regarding our uses of, and responses to, our resources.” ⁘ “The sculpture of Woods Davy
is, by
itself, sufficient evidence of continuing vitality for anybody who has
asked himself if there is life in L.A. art, after the flowering of the
‘60s.” ⁘ “Davy, who lives
and works in downtown Los Angeles, shows seven metal pieces, each
topped with a surprise element. His sculptures are essentially linear
constructions. They are composed of a few square beams connected at
right angles, white tape lines on the floor and a chunk of stone or a
slice of gnarled tree trunk. The white tape stuck to the floor reaches
out from the sculpture, suggesting shadows and other spatial
extensions. The effect is of form in flux – precisely composed but
capable of other arrangements. His work is at its best at Security
Pacific because it incorporates the building without succumbing to its
mammoth proportions.” |
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© Woods Davy, 2012 |
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