Eric Schnell, “The Shipbuilding Sea,” installation view
Eric Schnell, “A Platform for Holding On” (detail)
Eric Schnell, “It came from the dunes, but it was not us, it was not a Lettered Olive Snail, it was not a Speckled King Snake,” installation view
Eric Schnell: The Island of the Umbellifers (Part II) at the Old Jail Art Center, Albany, June 8 – August 31, 2024
Eric Schnell’s exhibition The Island of The Umbellifers (Part II) at the Old Jail Art Center (OJAC) in Albany, Texas, is a journey into the artist’s mind, where nature, memory, and human consciousness intersect. Schnell, who is based in Galveston, has a practice rooted in intuitive drawing and installation, creating expansive narratives that serve as visual maps of the human experience.
Schnell’s work occupies both the upstairs galleries, part of the 2024 Cell Series, and the project gallery downstairs at OJAC. The installations feature new drawings and floor sculptures, where birch plywood panels, cut into organic shapes and colored with ink and watercolor, are arranged on the floor. The accompanying rice and mulberry paper paintings encircle the walls, creating a fragmented narrative of a natural ecosystem from a birds-eye view.
Patrick Kelly, OJAC’s Director and Curator, notes Schnell’s unique ability to create worlds for others to explore. This is evident in this exhibition, where Schnell’s installations invite viewers to participate in a fictional quest for a quasi-utopian place. The exhibition’s title refers to a family of plants known for their aromatic qualities and umbrella-shaped flowers. Schnell’s fascination with these plants began in Galveston, where he discovered their intriguing relationships with their surroundings and the beneficial insects they attract.
Schnell’s installations reflect his ongoing exploration of these themes. The wooden blocks and panels on the floor are accompanied by standalone works on the wall that depict scenes reminiscent of nature, rendered in washes or stippled brushstrokes. These pieces are intentionally jumbled and form something akin to a road map for a developing colony.
The exhibition continues downstairs in the project gallery, with more sophisticated groupings of wooden pieces forming arrays of cubes, towers, and plateaus. Schnell’s drawings flank the walls, providing further context to the floor installations. However, this gallery features an alternative lighting arrangement; only the works on the walls are highlighted, leaving the floor installations in shadow, reminiscent of a city under overcast skies.
In an interview with Kelly, Schnell reveals his early fascination with nature, from studying backyard ant colonies to volunteering at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, which contributed to his fascination with nature. His move to Texas and subsequent discovery of art-making opened up a new world for him, one that felt similar to his early experiences of the natural world. Schnell’s art-making process is deeply automatic, with each drawing suggesting the next, creating a linear progression. “Reading” the exhibition feels like following a creek upstream to a larger river.
The Island of The Umbellifers (Part II) is a continuation of Schnell’s journey into a fictional place, where the relationships between plants, their surroundings, and symbiotic life relationships are explored. The exhibition’s title and concept are inspired by Schnell’s fascination with the umbellifer family of plants and their mystical, almost caring relationships with other plants. Schnell’s work at the OJAC captures this sense of wonder and exploration, offering viewers a glimpse into a world that is both familiar and alien, beautiful and sad.
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Jamal Hussein, “Press Esc During the System Error”
LabSynthE, “Green Statements”
Infinite Scroll at Ivester Contemporary, Austin, July 20 – August 31, 2024
Infinite Scroll, on view at Ivester Contemporary, is a refreshing addition to Austin’s summer group exhibition cycle. As many galleries prepare to close for the final stretch of the season, this group show stands out for its innovative approach, particularly in its showing of new media and digital works.
Co-curated by Tiffany K. Smith, the main exhibition space features contributions from familiar Texas names like Chris Cascio and Virginia Lee Montgomery, but the real highlight is the show’s back room, transformed into a new media haven with the use of black curtains. This makes the show one of the most forward-thinking digital media exhibits seen in a non-institutional setting.
Jamal Hussein’s installation cleverly integrates miniature screens arranged to mimic the radial “loading” dial common to computer interfaces, creating a visually captivating electronic display. LabSynthE’s Green Statements, directed by xtine burrough with creative researchers Cynthia O’Neill and Cansu Simsek, presents a web-based display of eco-friendly corporate language. This piece critically examines the performative nature of corporate environmentalism, using a mass of “green” language to illustrate the tension between genuine commitment and superficial appearances.
The exhibition also features interactive video games by Tiffany Smith, Celine Lassus, and Kristine Fernandez. Smith’s game is a conversation-based simulator that delves into the complexities of the U.S. education system, addressing issues like gun control and curriculum regulation through the perspective of a parent navigating school rules. Lassus offers a kaleidoscopic point-and-click game that emphasizes online proficiency, allowing players to explore a techno-underwater world and make choices about which digital artifacts to preserve for a new internet era. Fernandez’s static arcade, humorously titled Are We Having Fun Yet, includes bleakly humorous games that satirize the stressors of modern life, such as a word search called “Anxiety” and a pong-like game that challenges players to balance personal responsibilities.
In the rest of the show, there is more traditional work on view. Jean Hassin’s Sisters of Solidarity is a mesmerizing square wall relief made from clothing that has been pulverized into a malleable material. The composition features twin snakes encircling a central composition with teardrops and a cross adorned with diamonds. The use of this material is particularly intriguing and adds a tactile dimension to the piece, and has a subtle tone of color and texture that opens up conversations about the aesthetic reuse of materials.
Infinite Scroll is a sensational summer group exhibition that offers a vibrant display of digital and new media art. While there are many opportunities to catch group shows across Texas this season, Ivester Contemporary has gone above and beyond to thoughtfully include digital and new media in their rotation.
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William Sarradet is the Assistant Editor for Glasstire.
