William Stone will be creating a ring vessel for the ceremonial transport of the rings to the couple being wed.
Triple Corrected Chairs, #2, 2009
William Stone is a multi-faceted artist whose recent work is based on modified furniture. For example, the tops, backs, and arms of two old editor's chairs become an apparently functional new piece, aptly titled "Chair Without Legs." Think Transformers, but chairs. The artist uses mostly old, worn furniture or scrap to make the work, so each piece has a nice patina of age and use. But the sense of design brings it up a notch, call it mid-century remix. As works of sculpture, forms in themselves, the chairs draw curiosity and invite pondering. They are clever objects, with harmonious proportions and unnoticeable craftsmanship (which is to say, they're neither fine furniture nor rustically cobbled). At the same time, they are very consciously presented in a white-wall art gallery setting, and so beg the question "where does art end and craft begin?"
For his latest exhibition WARES at James Fuentes Gallery, New York (curated by Kevin McLeod) Stone further explored issues of functionality, art, and use. Stone distends, manipulates, rebuilds and builds furniture, objects and paintings, recycling both material and use, collapsing their mechanical qualities in vastly subtle, playful ways. The show enters unfamiliar territory as the objects invite use but the setting deplores it. Each piece's source material, whether raw wood, metal wire or formed plastic, affects the viewer's choice as to its use as furnishing or its reverence as art. An unusual triangulation between these two uses and the perception of current nuances of recycling.
William Stone has presented solo exhibitions at The Clock Tower/P.S. 1 Center for Contemporary Art, Tom Cugliani Gallery, Emily Harvey Gallery and has participated in group exhibitions at The New Museum, Deste Foundation for the Arts, The Aldrich Museum.