BIG PLASTIC
October 7, 2001 – January 31, 2002
Jay Belloli and Linda Centell, curators

Imagine an enormous and colorful web of plastic tape crisscrossing a section of an old plastics factory. The signs will read "Don't Touch," but at least a few visitors will give in to an impulse to see if the tape is actually sticky.

This and other monumental experiences in plastic will be had at the exhibition "Big Plastic," on view in the Gallery at Armory Northwest. The exhibition focuses on artists who are currently creating large-scale plastic works. The combined theme of plastic and "big" is quite appropriate to the space. Armory Northwest, also being used as an interim location while our permanent building undergoes renovation, just happens to be the former home of a plastics factory. As one would expect the space is huge, 17,000 square feet of gallery space within a 56,000 square foot building to be exact... the possibilities are endless.

Although the space for this exhibition was a great inspiration, just as captivating are the imaginative ways many artists are using plastic today. Artists like Carlos Mollura bring a unique association and perspective to this versatile and flexible material. Included in "Big Plastic" are Mollura's inflatable vinyl sculptures formed into the shapes of the rooms he lives in. His red, yellow and blue works function as abstract forms with specific references.

Other artists in the exhibition include Dianna Cohen, Megan Geckler, Habib Kheradyar, Hilary Norcliffe, Gloria Sedaghat and Anita Rafie, Stephen Shackelford, Jaime Scholnick, Ashley Thorner, Paul Tzanetopoulos, Monique van Genderen and Margo Victor.