Calm Glow, Part I & II, July and August 2021
A window installation on 523 Hudson Street in West Village, Manhattan, NY.
Presented by ArtInBuldings, curated by Eliana Blechman.

In Calm Glow, Margrethe Aanestad presents a two part exhibition that continues her ongoing explorations of form, color, material, and space.

In Part I, Aanestad hangs a large drawing of a soft pink circle composed of meticulously applied layers of chalk and pastel. The circle dominates the window space, creating a radiant portal that draws the viewer into its luminous surface, enveloping and encasing them in its glow. The reflective window panes further serve to pull the viewer into the circular gate, placing their body through the glass and onto the surface of the work. Drawn onto a hanging paper sheet, Aanestad cuts the circle off at its base where the bottom of the paper rolls onto the floor of the window space. The straight edge of the cropped circle imitates a horizon line, giving the circle the effect of a setting or rising sun. As the light shifts over the course of the day, the installation changes with it – interacting with and reflecting upon the Hudson Street window space.

To the left of the drawing, Aanestad installs a rectangular paper sheet covered in swathes of gold paint and a note of the circle's pink within its borders. Two small sculptures of shining brass, dark granite, and black marble create a material contrast to the delicate, seemingly gossamer paper of the central and side drawings. The curved, semi-circular brass element delicately balances on its granite base, its color echoing the golden painting at left and its curved form echoing the pink circle at right.

In Part II, Aanestad replaces the delicate pastel drawing with a heavy mass of velvet fabric in the same pink shade, deconstructing the thin but enveloping form and crumpling it into itself. The neutral pink tones of the fabric are balanced with a blue swathe of material that evokes a glimpse of night sky. Sprinkled lines of pastel pigment at left echo the interplay of colors in the fabrics, further recalling a horizon line at dusk or dawn. Aanestad surrounds these forms with delicate sculptures of marble, copper, and bronze. At right, a thick copper semicircle balances on a white marble base, acting as a transformed reflection of the thin brass loop on black marble of Part I.

Time Equities Inc. (TEI) is committed to enriching the experience of our properties through the Art-in-Buildings Program, an innovative approach that brings contemporary art by emerging and mid-career artists to non-traditional exhibition spaces in the interest of promoting artists, expanding the audience for art, and creating a more interesting environment for our building occupants, residents, and their guests. Photos: Curtis Kline

PART I:

PART II: