"GIGANTIC: Sculpture by Tim Reitenbach"
2002-08-03 until 2002-09-22
Springfield Museum of Art
Springfield, OH, USA United States of America

Titled GIGANTIC the show is comprised of several large-scale installations by Tim Reitenbach - each exploring death and the sense of mortality we face as we enter midlife. Each piece utilizes skeletons, and Rietenbach explains that among his many influences are the twisted humor surrounding Halloween, integrated with symbols whose meaning is taken for granted, and his obsession with handcrafting.

The large skeleton sculpture (also titled GIGANTIC) will encompass one room of the museum, filling the space and transforming it into a sarcophagus for the piece. Rietenbach creates a structure that embraces adult themes in a way that will engage a childs imagination Giants being a regular feature in childrens irnaginations. The modest, everyday materials Rietenbach uses in his installations become extraordinary as they are manipulated into works of extreme and spectacular scale.

In a separate room are Going to Hell, Burning Cross Bones, Anatomy Lesson, and Swastika. Swastika attracted media attention when members of the Jewish Defense League requested it be removed from an exhibition. Seen in context with other images of death and mortality the piece becomes part of a dialogue about the many ways in which death enters into our existence, our culture, and our understanding of life.

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of Ohio

Other Important Exhibitions in United States