David Shaw: Bog, 2013, wood, mirror, glass; 115 by 94 by 90 inches. Courtesy Feature, Inc.
New York artist David Shaw has long been preoccupied with the phenomenology of nature, especially in terms of organic and fluid shapes, the varied reflective surfaces of water, and non-Euclidean geometry. The culmination of recent experiments, “Eat Out” is a dazzling display of ostensibly utilitarian objects made for the dining room, including eccentrically shaped tables with sinuous tree branches soaring upward from the mirrored surfaces. Arranged on the tables, clear, hand-blown glass dinnerware and non-functional sculptural objects, which resemble icy splashes of water, are apparently set for some futuristic dinner party. The pentagon-patterned wall mural made of strips of holographic laminate—Shaw’s trademark material—adds to the installation’s overall prismatic luminosity. Don’t miss Jesse Bransford’s talismanic ode to Shaw in the gallery’s foyer.