Derek Weisberg at Trotter&Sholer, NYC
Seeing the pieced-together and partial figures in Derek Weisberg’s exhibition, ceramics cognoscenti who know their history will immediately recall the figurative works of Stephen DeStaebler (who Weisberg assisted for a few years) and Mary Frank. But while DeStaebler’s sculptures recalled the imposing monuments of the Near East or Egypt, and Frank’s females conveyed an erotic sensibility, Weisberg’s are more plaintive.
In the more recent art context, they might also evoke the brutalized assembled figures of Huma Bhabha or the more monstrous constructions of Matthew Monahan and Thomas Houseago. And maybe these are the more relevant comparisons, for they say something about the stresses of our time, even pre-pandemic. And maybe more generally they say something about our disorderly, chaotic lives, or the sense of being overwhelmed by things. That. She looks back to Arcimboldo.
