Dereck Malkemus at Artemisia (Chicago)

[Randy]

Most Cherished Devices
Derick Malkemus, sculptor, finds his two "most cherished devices" at the end of his arms. For as long as he can remember, he has used his hands to "do the bidding" of his "eyes and psyche." We saw the results -- 15 sculptures in cast and fabricated aluminum, steel, stainless steel and fiberglass -- at Artemisia Gallery in January.

Malkemus makes foam displacement castings, which are close relatives of the lost wax casting. He carves a form in Styrofoam, coats it with a refractory substance, makes Styrofoam runners, and buries everything in a flask of sand. Then he pours molten metal onto the runners, which vaporizes them and the form within the sand. Once everything cools down, he extracts the casting. The refractory coating ensures a clean surface.

The artist makes slant, disk and "muscle" forms, all related. Boy (2002) and Slant (2002) are small castings with coarse-grained surfaces on functional bases. Both works embody leaning geometric forms with interlocking elements that recall Futurist imagery. Boy is just five inches high, but the artist gets tremendous energy and tension into it.

Slipped Disc/Limited Twist (2000) and Match Book (2000) suggest grates or drains as created by a madman. Everything is off-kilter with open centers that seem to have been chewed out. There are odd folds, bends, striations and occasional matte color in the surface. Malkemus gets these intriguing, somewhat humorous effects by carving the Styrofoam form with a hot wire.

We see one of the artist's "muscle" forms in Archer (2000). The "muscle" is long and slim with striations in its surface. The artist says that he created this tense shape to get "more sinuous lines" into his work. Several other pieces in the show embody these forms.

A friend tipped us off to Malkemus -- this artist is little known outside the sculpture community. Over 15 years, he has built his own visual vocabulary and taken control of it. Not every piece in this show is a grand success, but every single one is Malkemus' alone. How many artists can say that?

http://www.artnet.com/magazine/revie...idy3-10-03.asp