14 Jun 2018

Richard Rezac: Address

Renaissance Society, University of Chicago

Reviewed by William Corwin

The voluminous, angular space of the Renaissance Society is filled with a congregation of Richard Rezac's jewel-like, polychrome confections. Like a birder in an exotic aviary, the viewer finds his eye lured by these splendors placed at different levels in the gallery. Each is a tight mathematical solution of clean edges, reflection, transparency, gloss, and architectural elements in miniature.

Certain details are recognizable. There are quotes from Venetian churches and Roman palazzos, as well as excerpts riffing on the banality of practicality - bits of window pane, cabinet handles, coat hooks, fences, and barricades. But their bite is rendered harmless by their sampling. They have become floating, decorative versions of themselves. Brancusi, Gober, and Tuttle are here in spirit, but for better or worse their darkness is washed away as Rezac adds a lightheartedness that comes with his palette and the perfection of his finishes.