Light artist Carol Salmanson debuted two new large-scale pieces,
Double Diamond and
Crown Colony, this September. Fresh off the heels of her
Two Sides to a Coin solo exhibition at
SL Gallery, she continues expanding her body of architecturally-based light work, building worlds that don’t exist in reality but are grounded in reality through the use of prosaic materials.
Carol’s site-specific installation
Crown Colony has been activated within the storefront window of 266 West 37th Street in Manhattan’s Garment District. The work is meant as a tribute to Manhattan’s architectural heritage, incorporating the same neoclassical ornamentation that permeated New York’s urban landscape throughout the early twentieth century. Assembled from sheets of transparent film in an array of dazzling colors, the installation encompasses the entire window, with back-lighting provided by the interior gallery. Referencing the architectural details from atop the uppermost levels of
266 West 37th Street and its surrounding buildings, Carol utilizes rich patterns of columns, friezes, and cornices to structure her design.
“As Manhattan’s modern skyscrapers reach higher heights and overtake our skyline, pedestrians often forget to look up at the city’s older buildings. Their tops are beautifully adorned, almost like a royal crown,” Carol explains. “For Crown Colony, I took a light approach—in both senses of the word—to address a serious topic. Through this project, I hope people gain a new appreciation for New York’s historical architecture.”
Concurrent with the exhibit at 266 W 37th, Carol’s wall sculpture
Double Diamond is showcased as part of
ODETTA Gallery‘s color-focused exhibition
Mesmerize, on view September 7th through September 30th. Musing on the concepts of perceptual and emotional space,
Double Diamond is made with layers of light beaming onto reflective material, as its two different configurations of diamonds are mounted on a strip that layers the light. The location in the beams creates a glowing frieze that radiates outward, imbuing the viewer with a sense of surprise and wonder. This piece is a continuation of Carol’s investigation of architectural form, as she aims to transform permanent materials into the lightest, most ephemeral format possible.
Overlapping the two exhibits, Carol is attending an artist residency in St. Petersburg, Russia, studying the contrast between the city’s Russian baroque architecture and its collection of reductive Constructivist buildings, both built to mark milestones in the country’s history.
About the Artist
Carol Salmanson is an artist working with light and reflective materials to create installations, sculptures, and wall pieces. She received a B.S. in Biological Psychology from Carnegie-Mellon University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. She attended the Arts Students League, the School of Visual Arts as a Public Art Resident, and the National Academy of Fine Arts as an Abbey Mural Workshop Fellow.
Salmanson’s public art projects include Water Bubbles, an installation in twenty windows of a landmark Constructivist White Tower in Russia. Other window installations include the venues Station Independent Projects, Time Equities’ Art-in-Buildings program, OK Harris Works of Art, Neo-Gothic Rockets at 254 Park Avenue South, and Mixed Greens Gallery. Her outdoor sculptures include Tri-Quadular Cone in Summit, NJ, and Lot’s Ex Wife (Pass The Salt) in Brooklyn.
Solo and two-person exhibition venues include Slag Contemporary (Brooklyn), Station Independent Projects (NY), Brian Morris Gallery (NY), the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Storefront Bushwick (Brooklyn), and others. Group exhibitions include Space Invaders, curated by Karin Bravin at Lehman College (Bronx), Illuminators at OK Harris (NY), Dumbo Arts Festival (Brooklyn), and Resplendency at the East/West Project (Berlin). She also curated The Language of Painting at Lesley Heller Workspace, and co-curated Tonal Shifts at Station Independent Projects.
Salmanson’s work has been written about by Graziella Melani Graci in Il Giorno dell’Arte and Il Manifesto (Italy), James Panero in the New Criterion, Two Coats of Paint blog, Edward Rubin in NY Arts Magazine, Jill Conner in the Brooklyn Rail, and Leah Oates in NY Arts Magazine, among others. Her work was featured in the Russian television outlets ETB and GTRK, a James Kalm video (now part of the Youtube channel Rough Cuts), and a studio visit by Brian Bernhard on CUNY television.
For more information and/or press materials, please contact: Nathalie Levey, Color Brigade Media at nathalie@colorbrigademedia.com
Carol may be visited at https://www.carolsalmanson.com, and followed on Instagram and Facebook.
