I don't think about cardboard much--except as the magic substance that makes breakdancing possible. Seeing the work of Chris Gilmour is a little bit like looking directly at the Ark of the Covenant in the first Indiana Jones movie--all knowledge about the potential of the material is revealed in one fell swoop, enlightening you to the point that your eyes start to melt out of their sockets. His craftsmanship is so tight that instead of being something he hides behind, it illuminates everything about his worldview.
The objects that Gilmour chooses to replicate in cardboard range from the personal--bicycles, globes and wheelchairs, to the universal--perfect miniature churches made out of cigarette boxes and Roman sculptures. Older pieces tended to be made of virgin cardboard--a way to use purity to transcend the ordinary nature of the material. Gilmour's newer pieces, however, bear all of the printing, tape and use of the original objects. I'll never look at cardboard the same way again. Gilmour has a show up currently at the Freight and Volume Gallery in Chelsea through October 12th.
LINK via EscapetoNewYork
