Oversized Everyday Objects - part 130. Apr2012
Chicago-born Los Angeles-based sculptor Robert Therrien, among other projects, makes giant versions of ordinary household furniture. The everyday objects are transformed into monumental sculptures and fantastic installations.
"The artist’s point of view – from the small world – could be viewed as a large gesture publically. The practice is creating something both large and small. Publically, Table and Chairs is perceived as a big object, where it actually originated from a small detail-a corner bracket supporting the table leg. Instead of crawling underneath and photographing an actual table in order to see it, why not shrink yourself and take a normal snapshot?" - Robert Therrien
photo by Cathal McNaughton---
"No title (Table and four chairs)" 2003 in the Artists Room at the MAC, Belfast on view April 20–July 22, 2012.Photos by Cathal McNaughton
Standing at almost ten feet tall, No title (Table and four chairs) is a typical dining set reproduced on a giant scale. Towering over you, this colossal artwork provokes memories of childhood and asks us to reconsider household items that we often overlook as adults.
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"No Title (folding table and chairs, dark brown" 2008 in the "Lifelike" exhibition at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis on view February 25–May 27, 2012; made of painted metal and fabric.Is it real? Lifelike invites a close examination of artworks based on commonplace objects and situations, which are startlingly realistic, often playful, and sometimes surreal. This international group exhibition features artists variously using scale, unusual materials, and sly contextual devices to reveal the manner in which their subjects’ “authenticity” is manufactured. More info here.
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"No title (Stacked plates, mint)" 2006-07 - made of plastic---
'No title (pots + pans II)’, 2008 
Robert Therrien was born in 1947 in Chicago, and has been living and working in Los Angeles since 1971. Recent solo exhibitions include Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY (2006); Kunstmuseum Basel Kupferstichkabinett (2008); De Pont Museum, Tilburg, The Netherlands (2011). Since 2009, a major group of his works has been part of ARTIST ROOMS, a collection of international contemporary art established through The d’Offay Donation with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, The Art Fund and the Scottish and British Governments -- most recently on view at the Scottish National Gallery of Art (2010-11). This exhibition is part of The Getty museum's Southern California exhibition initiative, “Pacific Standard Time.”Therrien's work appears in numerous public collections worldwide, including The Broad Art Foundation, Santa Monica, CA; The Getty Center, Los Angeles; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate, London; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. - Gagosian Gallery
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