Luis Gispert All Oyster, No Pearl

Combining elements of photography and sculpture with a focus on the corollary of arrangement, Luis Gispert’s solo exhibition is somewhat of a departure from his previous methods and concerns. All Oyster, No Pearl unravels the artist’s creative process as familiar themes now communicate through novel and more instinctual ways.

A series of silver gelatin prints mounted onto customized boxes are in fact closer to sculptures due to their presentation and subject matter. Staged composites pair modern furniture with cheap items; for example, in Wishbone (2012), a fake gold chain intersects a Hans Wegner chair. These photographs invite a conversation of quality and attribution of worth as opposing elements level, and ultimately dissolve, through the image’s monochromatic depiction. With a group of freestanding sculptural work, Gispert combines cast sections of Hydro-Stone with factory-manufactured elements. The union of handmade and ready-made, here again, alludes to discussions of hierarchy and value.

All Oyster, No Pearl confronts the concept of syllogism. The connections and conclusions drawn through the act of looking, processing information, and the seduction of aesthetics defy standard interpretation. Gispert warps the ideology of discerning value, and a cliché becomes fresh: one’s trash is another’s treasure. His work does not dictate an agenda; it offers a freedom to connect through associative perception, and to dissolve our object caste system. What emerges is a trigger to consider how and why such equations evolve, reaching to obtain cultural currency.