Most galleries will toss out anyone who tries to touch the art. Sicardi Gallery wonยt, though; in fact, theyยll give you a pair of soft gloves and a personal invitation to go right ahead. Itยs Sรฉrvulo Esmeraldoยs ยLes Excitables 1966-1975,ย a series of boxes, that visitors get to touch. Each piece contains material that reacts to the static electricity viewers create by rubbing their hands on the boxยs cover.
The series features some of Esmeraldoยs earliest work ย small, brightly colored food containers filled with bits of paper and covered with plastic film from 1966 (Foodtainer 1). From later in that decade, there are larger boxes, filled with carefully ordered rows of string (E68001) or bits of metallic paper (E68003) hanging from pins. As viewers pass their hands over the clear Plexiglas cover, the pieces move in waves toward or away from the charge, each pass creating a different pattern. Esmeraldo began using opaque Plexiglas in the 1970s. E7008 seems to be a monochromatic box ย until you touch it and the tips of colored wooden cylinders pop to the surface. What was an empty white surface becomes filled with dots and shadows.
Many of these works have been quietly stored away for the last 20 years in a Paris studio. Donยt miss the opportunity to see ย and touch ย them. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays to Fridays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. 2246 Richmond. Through January 12, 2008. For information, call 713-529-1313 or visit www.sicardi.com. Free.
Tuesdays-Saturdays, 2007
This article appears in Dec 27, 2007 – Jan 2, 2008.