Willard Boepple's Towering Sculptures at Lori Bookstein Fine Art Explore Mediation and Mystery

Willard Boepple's exhibition of new sculpture at Lori Bookstein Fine Art in New York City ran from March 29 to April 28, 2012. Three large-scale works, sparsely installed in the main gallery, evoke radio masts or towers while resisting straightforward interpretation. Each piece features a vertical gray frame containing colored elements, with specific works including What gives (2011), Heath (2012), and Ever (2012). Boepple's sculptures emphasize the dialogue between frame and internal forms, inviting viewers to walk around and between them. The artist describes his work as aiming to be 'open and clear like a ringing melody,' drawing musical analogies of themes and variations. Color coding highlights each sculpture's individuality while uniting the series in a painterly manner, reminiscent of Mondrian's compositions. Boepple notes the framework functions as an 'engaged pedestal,' integral to the whole. The works' openness and gaps make them contiguous with surrounding space, referencing the ethereal realm of radio waves. This exhibition continues Boepple's exploration of weight, density, and scale through intuitive yet methodical variations within repeated structures.