IAN GERSON

PRESS FOR FUTURE FLOOR:

NY Observer, review by Brady Dale, July 2015

Press Release as pdf

Tomato House is pleased to present Future Floor by Ian Gerson, from July 10 – August 9, 2015. The exhibition is open Saturdays and Sundays from 1–6pm with the artist present. Future Floor is a site-specific immersive installation that transforms Tomato House into an underwater/galactic exploration vessel. Visitors enter the belly of the ship, finding themselves in a control room glowing with otherworldly festive fluorescence. In this sunless realm we encounter large totemic paintings, constructed cardboard machinery, and obscure found objects resonating with themes of the underwater cosmos.

The deep sea/deep spacecraft embodies the human mind, compelled to plunge the greatest depths and explore the most distant territories. This technology also represents human limitation and the impossibility of cataloguing and conquering the vast universe. By creating a space of ambiguity and discovery, the installation invites us to encounter the strangeness of the natural world anew. Within the backdrop of our environmental degradation, we enter a portal to re-imagine and reclaim our future existence.

Ian Gerson makes installations comprised of built structures, large-scale paintings, and found and handmade objects. Exploring the borders of urban and natural territory, specifically the coastline, Gerson gathers organic and human-made flotsam and incorporates them into constructed environments. Through conversations and performances within the installations, the work opens up to encounter and chance. Making use of discarded and at-hand materials along with overlooked and vacated local spaces, the projects transform their settings physically and energetically, inviting viewers to suspend disbelief and join into a re-contemplation of our perceptual reality.

Ian Gerson is the recipient of numerous residencies and awards and holds a BFA from the University of Texas, Austin. Past projects include a temporary Travel Agency constructed in an empty Italian ice storefront in Williamsburg, a mock park ranger booth at Socrates Sculpture Park, a museum dedicated to a forgotten history of Governors Island, and a recreation of the home of a fictional artist and sea-lover on Staten Island.

Tomato House is an artist run space in Ocean Hill, Brooklyn that hosts exhibitions, screenings, and community events. Gallery hours are Saturday and Sunday 1–6pm and by appointment. For more information please contact Rebecca Bird at 347-770-7813.

This exhibition is made possible in part by the support of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.