Josh Callaghan’s solo exhibition Legacy presents a series of sculptural allegories. Carved refrigerators and concrete pinecones reveal humanity’s connection to nature and nature’s connection to technology.
Refrigerators, perhaps the most unassuming and pervasive object in America, are not only the most economical sculpting material by volume, they are cultural relics. Intimately embedded in our modern way of life, they feed and sustain us. When cut open, they reveal a fleshy, hidden inner-layer, a cyborgian interior.
The concrete and stainless steel pinecones, cast from the artist’s knees and elbows, mimic the natural cycle of the re-seeding of the forest floor. Just as the conifer contains the reproductive structures of the tree, these oversized pinecones are parables for the reseeding of artists, paying homage to influences, and passing those desires and philosophies to the next generation.
Josh Callaghan (b. 1969 Doylestown, PA) is based in Los Angeles. He holds an MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles and a BA in Cultural Anthropology from the University of North Carolina Asheville. He teaches at Otis College of Art and Design. He has had solo exhibitions at Harmony Murphy Gallery, Los Angeles; Steve Turner Contemporary, Los Angeles; Haas & Fischer Gallery, Zurich; and Bank Gallery, Los Angeles. Group exhibitions include Current LA:Water, Public Art Biennale, Los Angeles, CA; Vapegoat Rising, Arturo Bandini at Ballroom Marfa, Marfa, TX; Made in Space, Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, NY and Night Gallery, Los Angeles; and Frieze Sculpture Park, Frieze New York