Quay Quinn Wolf, Pink Velvet Dress with The Fur Collar - August 16th - September 29th
Review: Quay Quinn Wolf, Pink Velvet Dress with the Fur Collar | Zoe Samudzi | September 2019
Quay Quinn Wolf, Pink Velvet Dress with the Fur Collar | Art Viewer | September 2019
Quay Quinn Wolf, Pink Velvet Dress with the Fur Collar } Tzvetnik | September 2019

Sparsely placed, minimal objects take on a life of their own in Quay Quinn Wolf’s work, suggesting the subconscious, fragmentary memories and the ephemerality of experience. Wolf often uses materials that adorn or augment the body such as hair gels, oils, velvet, satin, clothing, and flowers, to suggest the body and its transience.

In his exhibition of new sculptures for Interface, Pink Velvet Dress with the Fur Collar, Wolf explores his relationship to his grandmother, reflecting on her relationship to 1950's cinema, specifically Douglas Sirk’s Imitation of Life (1959), which he remembers watching with her. Sirk’s film is a tale of two single mothers, one white, and the other black. Wolf has memories of his grandmother’s comments during the film as she would imagine the black domestic characters adorned in the opulent garments the white female characters wore. In this exhibition, furs and velvet are draped on canes and c-stands respectively, evoking themes of desire, aging and representation. A central sculpture is entitled, “I adored that velvet dress,” which references a comment Wolf’s grandmother made about the pink velvet dress with the fur collar, worn by the white main character, Lora (played by Lana Turner).

Other titles are drawn from scenes in the film. For example, “I am white, I’m as white as Susie!,”  references a painful scene in which the little girl, Sarah Jane (played by Susan Kohner), who passes for white, expresses confusion and dismay at being identified as a “negro child.” The piece is made of white silk, crushed African red roses and Shea oil, resulting in a stained surface that simultaneously suggests violence, bruising and the domestic labor of the black characters in the film.

Collectively, the works consider Wolf's grandmother’s own longing and desire as expressed through her response to the film. As such, they reflect in a very personal way, on class and racial divides that continue today.

This exhibition and its related programming are generously supported by The Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation..

Quay Quinn Wolf (b.1989) is a sculptor living and working in New York City. Wolf’s practice considers objects and their meaning and recontextualizes them. Viewing the work, memory collapses as ephemerality dictates experience. Wolf’s work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. His 2018 solo show, Arrangements at Jack Barrett (New York, NY) was selected as a critics pick by Artforum.com and featured in print in ARTnews magazine. Wolf is currently exhibiting at NADA House on Governors Island (New York, NY) and working on his 5th solo exhibition, TENSIONS opening fall 2020 at Jack Barrett (New York, NY).