Julian Hoeber's 2008 Exhibition at Blum & Poe Explores Time and Destruction

From September 6 to October 18, 2008, Julian Hoeber presented "All That is Solid Melts into Air" at Blum & Poe's Los Angeles gallery. The exhibition featured nine acrylic varnish and sumi ink paintings arranged in a circular sequence that manipulated temporal perception. These works created optical effects reminiscent of Bridget Riley, with black concentric circles appearing to float. Hoeber's paintings incorporated diverse imagery including Dürer-esque nipples, a George Carlin-esque face, a child's wedding drawing, and a folded Cézanne reproduction. In the second gallery, ten polished bronze skulls displayed various stages of violent destruction, with some appearing blasted by mortar shells or riddled with shotgun pellets. The sculptures referenced Aztec sacrifice masks and embodied magical realism akin to Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Stainless steel pedestals reflected viewers from the waist down, creating an immersive confrontation. The exhibition wove together art historical references spanning Op Art, Pop Art, Cézanne, and Abstract Expressionism. All works dated from 2008 and explored themes of ephemerality, circular time, and the transformation of solid forms into air.