More Images

Artists Bios

 

 

Centric 59: Seth Kaufman
March 21 - April 21, 2000

Centric 59 features the sculptural works of Los Angeles-based Seth Kaufman. Since the early 1990s, Kaufman’s work has included a wide range of subject matter and media, although his interest in and novel approach to materials are a constant. His body of work is characterized by a remarkable ability to force materials to the extreme edge of their potential and often deals with the process of transformation. Centric 59 includes three-dimensional forms made of coagulated paint that Kaufman buried just below the earth’s surface. Once submerged below ground, the paint was left undisturbed to undergo a steady process of metamorphosis. Fusing with dirt, pebbles, and weeds, the paint hardened into solid organic forms. The smooth, heavy liquid that once poured evenly over the rim of a household can of paint surrendered its perfect fluidity to the bumps and snarls of the natural world, leaving only color as its distinguishing characteristic. Once excavated, the fluidity of paint crossed over to objecthood.

Centric, which began in 1981, is an ongoing series of exhibitions dedicated to introducing the University Art Museum ausidence to work by individual artists that has not previously been shown in the area.

Image Credit: Seth Kaulfman, detail of Eggshells Mixed with Resin, Halved, 1999, Eggshells and resin, diptych 98 x 49 x 3 in. each panel, Courtesy of the Artist.