At Hemoglyphs, the current show at Causey Contemporary, New York City native Jordan Eagles encases salvaged slaughterhouse blood in plexiglass and UV resin. The resulting ceiling-high abstract sculptural murals are incredibly bold, both in form and intention. His method permanently preserves the blood’s color and texture. Light shines through the panels to reveal unexpected details in the layers of blood, which vary to appear every red between black and baby pink. Some coats are splashed and dripped while others are crystallized and congealed into a glowing tapestry of pauses at different stages of the preservation process.
Eagles mysteriously avoids profanity by presenting objects so unapologetically big, bright and bold as to numb any squeamish reaction. By going all in, he humbles the viewer into absorbing the visual effect rather than the gory medium. It’s ambiguous whether the source material is meant to make a political statement. But the suspension of a vital, flowing substance as abstract imagery seems rife with universally applicable interpretations.
Hemoglyphs is now on view at Causey Contemporary in Williamsburg through October 2nd.
Jordan Eagles - blood works - HEMOFIELDS at Krause Gallery NYC - September 5th 2012
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JORDAN EAGLES – HEMOFIELDS
Exhibition Dates: September 5 – October 16, 2012
Hours: Wednesday - Friday, 11:30am - 5:30pm, Saturday - Sunday, noon - 6:00pm, Monday -Tuesday by
appointment.
Address: Krause Gallery, 149 Orchard Street, New York, NY 10002
Reception: Wednesday, September 5, 2012, 6:00pm - 9:00pm
New York, NY, July 10, 2012 – KRAUSE GALLERY is pleased to present HEMOFIELDS, a
series of new works by New York-based artist JORDAN EAGLES in his second solo exhibition
at the gallery. HEMOFIELDS is Eagles’ first of three simultaneous fall solo exhibitions opening
across the U.S. this September. He has a second solo opening at the International Museum of
Surgical Science in Chicago (September 14) and the third at The Butcher’s Daughter in Detroit
(September 22).
In HEMOFIELDS, Eagles introduces a completely new series based on the various color and
textural components of blood as it reacts during the resin’s curing process, along with new
minimal works created with blood-soaked gauze stretched over black acrylic boxes. In the
presence of light, the blood's iridescence and the fabric’s suspended grid pop from under and
between the multiple layers of clear resin. The works retain and vibrate the light, illuminating
lustrous pools of reds, crimsons, oranges, browns, and blacks above their copper backing.
Overall, Eagles’ new works are remarkably luminous, as the blood permanently maintains its rich
colors and natural textures.
Describing his new series, Eagles says: “These new works are a reduction of process and a
collaboration between control and nature. The works offer an allegory of death to life but focus
on the colors, textures, patterns and inherent energies of this sacred material.”
Eagles has been using preserved animal blood, procured from slaughterhouses, in his signature,
multidimensional works for over a decade. Through his experimental, self-invented process, the
artist applies blood to layers of clear plexiglass and then permanently preserves the organic
material with layers of resin, allowing the high-gloss surfaces to suspend the fluid forms.