A captivating art exhibition filled with sculptures that offer a whimsical take on furniture and household items.
Volume Gallery showcases American and art design, focusing on promoting emerging contemporary creatives. Among other talented artists and designers, the art gallery represents New York-based Sam Stewart, whose conceptual work offers a whimsical take on household objects and furniture. Inspired by pop culture from his childhood, the artist also explores current themes, urban landscapes, and technology like virtual reality. Both unusual and captivating, Stewart’s sculptures are often imbued with animistic qualities. In the Daisy Chain exhibition, art lovers can admire his work up close. Open at the Chicago Volume Gallery, the show features a series of sculptures that recreate a slightly surreal living space. Here, mundane become anything but.
Placed away from the gallery’s walls, the objects represent different pieces of furniture, home accessories or architectural elements. In Sleepyhead, a roof placed vertically on a wall – like a painting – boasts miniature shingles and two dormer windows with unsettling reddish frames, drooping like two eyes yet also resembling slightly opened mouths. Yeeted Image is a trampoline, but its angled position negates its function. For Extended Release, the artist used inflated polyvinyl fabric segments to create a sofa-like object that also gives a nod to American children’s toy Lincoln Logs.
Dad Joke casts an aluminum ladder as a chaise lounge character while Titled Lefty pays homage to Shaker furniture with a series of oval boxes made of vibrantly colored resin. Privacy Screen offers an amusing take on its namesake. Made of welded chain, the work stands rather than hangs; it features a series of “feet” that almost make it resemble a moving entity. The Sam Stewart ‘Daisy Chain’ exhibition opened on September 16 and runs until October 29, 2022. Photography © Sam Stewart, Volume Gallery.