Bonded marble

October 26, 2005 – September 10, 2006

Public Art Fund is proud to present a new exhibition of contemporary art at MetroTech Center. Material World features new commissions by Rachel Foullon, Corin Hewitt, Matthew Day Jackson, Peter Kreider, and Mamiko Otsubo. The works, which range from personal monuments to visionary landscapes, are each made using materials that directly relate to or are inspired by the artist’s chosen subject matter.

Peter Kreider’s sculptures shift between the ordinary world and a more ambiguous zone of enchantment, where mysterious or abnormal things occur. Many of his works seem to be under the influence of invisible forces. Other works transform familiar objects, often by delightfully simple means, exaggerating both the physical presence and strangeness of familiar objects. Kreider’s works act as unassuming portals, offering another way of seeing what is around us.

For his installation at MetroTech, Kreider explores the properties of one of modern culture’s most familiar, utilitarian objects. an upward-down is a colonnade of several unusually tall, identical fire hydrants, designed in the same classically inspired vein as New York City’s standard-issue street fixtures. But these hydrants are purely decorative, stripped of all functionality. They have no valves and nozzles, and are rendered in pink cultured marble instead of cast iron. The title, an upward-down, refers to the push-and-pull between above and below ground. Actual hydrants draw water from below, while these overgrown sculptural versions seem to sprout from the ground. They rise up against their prescribed height and function as if, Kreider notes, “by their own will or by some unknown influence.” While mimicking the grandiosity of traditional Greek and Roman architecture, the colonnade maintains the humility of the urban vernacular.

Artist Bio
Peter Kreider lives and works in Brooklyn. He was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; he received his BFA from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University (1995) and his MFA from Tyler School of Art at Temple University (2004). His work has been featured in several group shows including “View” at Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens (2003).

Sponsorship
Material World at MetroTech Center is part of an ongoing program organized by the Public Art Fund and sponsored by MetroTech Commons Associates, an organization that consists of MetroTech companies Bear Stearns & Company, Forest City Ratner Companies, JPMorganChase, KeySpan, and Polytechnic University. Special thanks to Forest City Ratner Companies and First New York Management.

Location
MetroTech Center is located in Downtown Brooklyn between Jay Street and Flatbush Avenue at Myrtle Avenue. Viewing hours are dawn to dusk daily for outdoor works, Monday through Friday 8am to 6pm for Mamiko Otsubo’s sculptures in One MetroTech. Subway: A, C, F to Jay Street/Borough Hall, exit at Myrtle Promenade; R to Lawrence Street.

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