Unbroken Connections

On View: October 3 - October 6, 2024

Opening Reception: October 3, 2024: 6 - 9pm

Laney Contemporary is pleased to present three sculptures that are part of Unbroken Connections, a seminal series of large works by Atlanta-based artist Curtis Patterson. During Patterson’s mid-career in the 1980s he embarked on a journey to transform the sculpture-pedestal relationship in his work. At the fore of this exploration was his concern with the dominance of the classical monolithic prism and cylindrical pedestal relative to the art on display. An initial solution was breaking pedestals into separate components, where offset arrangements of the supporting legs essentially wills the pedestal to respond to sculptural surfaces at different levels. Patterson’s critical explorations use volumetrically hollowed pedestals which result in table-like supports that seek aesthetic and practical unity between sculptural and structural form. Sculptures such as Still Life for Abbey feature pedestal elements which are fully integrated with the sculpture.

Patterson’s unique command of materials and his dynamic compositions emerge from an illustrious, decades-long career as a sculptor of extraordinary range that includes large-scale public works. Patterson’s experiences growing up in Louisiana during the Civil Rights Movement inform the subject matter and symbolism in his work. With art historical inspirations including Hale Woodruff and Henry Moore, Patterson’s practice emphasizes a spectrum of African diasporic experiences which in turn reimagine the contexts for modern and contemporary sculpture. From Unbroken Connections to his most recent work, Patterson’s art serves as “a conduit to delineate ideas originating from the African continent.” His abstract approach is also inspired by a longtime interest in improvisational jazz, especially the open-ended and responsive interplay between artist, the work of art, and the viewer.