Abattoir: Michelle Grabner
“Is she done painting?” I heard someone ask the gallerists at Abattoir Gallery from Cleveland, Ohio. Michelle Grabner’s pivot was a shock and delight, often yielding the fair question. Her continued exploration of domestic life and invisible labor reaches a new peak with these large-scale, realistic cast sculptures. In these new works, her familiar gingham pattern transforms but still presents itself in subtle ways, most tangibly in the beautifully glazed towels in the sink basins. The familiarity at once softens the blow of her hard material turn and continues her thematic focus.
Excitement comes from both the instant recognition of these objects–spray bottles, sponges, janitorial cart–and still being taken in by the illusion. Their presence, despite the hard material, evokes a softness that gives quiet respect to the labor they imply. Minimalistic, muted, and intentional colors feel beholden to the silhouette of the objects. The three large sinks in particular are strangely comic in how they highlight the material and conceptual rigor in these everyday clones. There is impressive commitment throughout the whole scale of works: from larger, anchoring pieces like brooms or janitorial carts, all the way to tiny Ivory soap bars and brush bristles. Grabner’s work here highlights these often unspecial utility objects, successfully mirroring the invisible labor they aid.
Read here.
