ANDY VOGT | NEW DRAWINGS

Eli Ridgway Gallery is pleased to present “New Drawings,” a solo exhibition by Andy Vogt.

Wood, concrete, and other materials typically used to make sculpture become drawing tools in Andy Vogt’s recent works. His interest is centered on perception of space, both physical and imagined, while inviting a reconsideration of one’s surroundings.

Numerous works in the exhibition are in the artist’s signature Lath series which utilize thin strips of wood salvaged from the destruction of lath and plaster walls during the renovation of older buildings. Using this material as a drawing tool, Vogt concentrates the linear nature of the wood and its natural color variation to compose flat, sculptural drawings with a deep sense of dimension. The forms depicted in these works often appear to be in the midst of solidifying into a crystalline structure. 

“These works are inspired by the moment of upheaval that architectural demolition brings. When the wrecking ball takes down a vintage building, those materials are thrown into chaos, lightened through the entropic release of force. For me, they change states and become a drawing medium where new forms arise from the dusty rubble.”

Other works in the show use collage, sun printing, rust, and concrete casting as various starting points.  A common thread between them is a flattened, two-dimensional effect which reinforces the idea of drawing as a central focus of Vogt’s vision.

Andy Vogt grew up in the suburbs of Washington DC and attended Carnegie Mellon University where he earned a BFA in Intermedia, a program focused on time based media, performance and installation. He lived in Pittsburgh PA until 2000.

His current work using reclaimed wood from demolished buildings, started around 2004, a few years after moving to San Francisco. Since then, his work has been exhibited nationally and locally including solo shows at Eleanor Harwood Gallery, Eli Ridgway Gallery, Hap Gallery (Portland, OR) , Southern Exposure, The Museum of Craft and Design and Ampersand International Arts. Group exhibitions include Headlands Center for the Arts, San Francisco State University Art Gallery, Swarm Gallery and Adobe Books Backroom Gallery. In 2010 he was an artist in residence at Headlands Center for the Arts.

Andy lives and works in San Francisco, California.