Lot 107: MARK HANDFORTH

Chain Trashcan
This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.

40 1/2 x 32 1/4 x 22 7/8 in. (103 x 82 x 58 cm).

<br>Steel, resin and enamel.

2006

Glasgow, Hutchesons Hall, Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Visual Art, April 19 - May 1, 2006

Modern Institute, Toby Webster Ltd., Glasgow

Handforth’s sculptures may traffic in the well-pressed suits of modernism, but their motifs, unlike those of so many works of the past decade, always run counter to formal pastiche and instead resonate socially. The artist’s most recent assemblages may have the tilted, expansive angles of classic Mark Di Suvero works… Aesthetics end up recalling the dead-zone nighttime highways of the modern, industrial United States and, more specifically, the dark roads that skirt Handforth’s adopted home of Miami.
T. Griffin, “Mark Handforth: Love, Reign O’er Me,” Mark Handforth, September 2002
 
Mark Handforth’s sculptures obstruct existing spaces with found or appropriated objects, questioning the properties of industrial materials in our social culture. Known for his twisted lampposts and fluorescent light installations, the artist delights in guiding viewers to consider the innate qualities and forms of objects they use and spaces they inhabit. The present lot, a bent steel trashcan saddled with a heavy red chain, is an extension of this concept. Negating the purpose of the metal bin, Handforth examines its structural qualities while inviting a comparison of materials. Heavy and grimy, the chain contrasts against the shiny cage of the trashcan, causing the strong industrial bin to appear precarious under its weight. The work references the sculptural traditions of Oldenburg and Duchamp, meanwhile challenging the space it occupies.