On View August 13–September 11, 2022 | Southern Idiom Gallery
SECCA's Southern Idiom exhibition series continues with Brutal Beauty, featuring new works by metalworker Gabe Bridges of Metalmorphosis. An opening reception for the exhibition will be held from 1–4pm on Saturday, August 13. Admission is free, with a suggested $10 donation.
ARTIST BIO
Gabe Bridges is a metalworker who lives and works in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Since childhood, mechanical and auxiliary objects have fascinated him, having spent considerable time in both his grandfather's workshops growing up. His personal artistic style stems from a combination of math, mechanics, geometry, and fluid motion.
During his younger years, Gabe initially learned how to work with metal on small jewelry and sculptures at the Fine Arts Center in Greenville, South Carolina. Later, Gabe moved to Winston-Salem, where he would graduate from the welding program at Forsyth Tech. At the same time, he started working in Jon Kuhn's metal shop, assisting with sculptures where he would hone his skills for almost 10 years. Metalworking would become a lifelong career and passion for Gabe. Having spent the last two decades as a welder, machinist and designer, Gabe Bridges started Metalmorphosis, Inc with Mark Lamb in 2013. Metalmorphosis has since combined efforts and become an art collective, with Gabe Bridges and Mark Lamb working together as artists.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My work stems from a desire to investigate an understanding of perfect creation and how individual fragments affect the whole. While some of my work relies on computer aided design, the pieces represented here have forced me to welcome disorder and confusion with persistence to realize the completed pieces.
The work is heavy, coarse and dirty, while simultaneously remaining airy and delicate. Mirroring the natural world's brutal beauty is a common theme. When we combine the elusive quality of light and shadow with the weighty substance of the sculptures, the juxtaposition is something magical, and boundless conceptual possibilities in multiple realms open up to the viewer.
The works are simple forms driven by repetition, process, and pattern. Through the manipulation of various light sources, my hope is to create a space that evokes thought and creative visualizations of surprise and enjoyment. The spectacle of light is ever-present but often dismissed.
About Southern Idiom
SECCA's Southern Idiom exhibition series launched in 2017 as a platform for elevating and celebrating the work of Winston-Salem artists. In contrast to many exhibitions at SECCA, works on view in Southern Idiom are available for purchase. Gabe Bridges' exhibition marks the 29th installment of the series, whose alumni artists include Sharon Hardin, Terri Dowell-Dennis, Ashley Johnson, Frank Campion, Mona Wu, Owens Daniels, Jessica Singerman, Leo Rucker, Kevin Calhoun, Paul Travis Phillips, Laura Lashley, Sam "The Dot Man" McMillan, and others.