ANTHONY JAMES : ABSOLUTE ZERO

A new Film by Eric Minh Swenson Absolute Zero by Anthony James: Anthony James’ work takes up the concepts of the universal and transcendental in order to demonstrate the impossibility of their representation.  The historical cosmology of Plato is a primary inspiration, both for the sculptures of icosahedrons and for the silhouette of Baroque architect Francesco Borromini’s dome for Sant’Ivo in Rome.  Colorful rings of neon nod to the ancient concept of the universe as a set of concentric planetary orbits.  The effect is both esoteric and industrial, orphic and distinctly concrete.  Modern art historical references abound as well – Bruce Nauman, Ellsworth Kelly, Minimalism – but the artist’s attention is on the wonderment and possibility presented by distant ideals. The neon spectrum works that provide the title for James’ exhibition are particularly poignant in the tension between references, effects, and materials.  The Absolute Zero works are meticulously calibrated spectra of colored neon