In Conversation: Dexter Wimberly with Andrew Lyght

In conversation: dexter wimberly with Andrew Lyght

Dexter Wimberly interviews Andrew Lyght on the occasion of his solo exhibition, Second Nature, at Anna Zorina Gallery in New York City.

ANNA ZORINA GALLERY

Opening Thursday, September 10, Anna Zorina Gallery presents Second Nature, a solo exhibition of works by Andrew Lyght. The show features works spanning multiple series that are united in the merger of dualistic qualities such as painting and sculpture, industrial and ornamental, raw and refined. Andrew’s technique is inspired by his youth spent in the South American nation of Guyana, when as a child he was often found on the docks with his sailor uncles. Andrew Lyght was introduced to the gallery by independent curator and CEO of Art World Conference, Dexter Wimberly who had been following his career closely for several years.

In advance of the exhibition’s opening, Dexter speaks with Andrew about his expansive career. They discuss Andrew’s roots in Georgetown, Guyana, Andrew’s background in building and construction, a memory from an artist residency at Long Island City’s PS1 in the 1970s, and what to expect from his current solo exhibition at ANNA ZORINA GALLERY.

Andrew Lyght Industrial Painting/ Sheathing 0340RD, 1998-2001 Signed on the verso. rust-oleum enamel, prismacolor pencil, steel sheathing, post, lintel, steel frame 51 x 44 in (129.5 x 111.8 cm) Courtesy of ANNA ZORINA GALLERY and the Artist. Photog… — Andrew Lyght
*Industrial Painting/ Sheathing 0340RD*, 1998-2001
Signed on the verso.
rust-oleum enamel, prismacolor pencil, steel sheathing, post, lintel, steel frame 51 x 44 in (129.5 x 111.8 cm)
Courtesy of ANNA ZORINA GALLERY and the Artist. Photographer: Stan Narten

DEXTER WIMBERLY:
YOU’VE HAD A LONG CAREER FILLED WITH TRAVEL AND EXPERIMENTATION. HOW HAS YOUR WORK EVOLVED IN THE PAST 10 YEARS, LEADING UP TO THIS EXHIBITION?

ANDREW LYGHT:
In the past 10 years, as an artist I must keep exploring. For me, art has always been about line and structure in space—specifically how to create volume using the simplest materials and methods. This way of defining space has a lot to do with my childhood exposure to builders and tradesmen of all kinds in South American the nation of Guyana. One of my earliest and most important memories was watching my uncles and neighbors build stick-frame houses.

DW:
YOU HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE WITH BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION. WHERE DO YOU GAIN THAT EXPERIENCE AND HOW HAS IT INFLUENCED YOUR ARTWORK?

AL:
My influence came from looking. I thought that these pared-down, open structures resembled three-dimensional line drawings. It was these lines and shapes against the sky that led me to imagine and create structures that could fly and float in space. In so many ways drawing and building have become second nature to me. In the fall of 2010, I purchased an 1830 brick mule barn in Kingston NY, I stripped the down to its original shell. As a builder and fabricator, taking cues from its classic proportions of the building. I design a combination of residence, studio space. Which inspired me in creating a new series of artwork, building shell structures, which frame an area of the wall surface.

“It was these lines and shapes against the sky that led me to imagine and create structures that could fly and float in space.”

ANDREW LYGHT

DW:
MANY PEOPLE KNOW YOU FOR YOUR SCULPTURES, BUT YOU ARE TRULY A MULTIDISCIPINARY ARTIST. WHERE DO PAINTING AND DRAWING FIT INTO YOUR PRACTICE?

AL:
Thus, my work is a life-long exploration of freehand drawn lines, planes, volume, and color to depict pictorial space. I have physically deconstructed, altered, and reconstructed the picture plane, the frame, and the compositional elements within it. I use architectural principles and systems such as post and lintel. I pare this architectural cat’s cradle down to its minimal essence, to build geometric shell structures.

“I pare this architectural cat’s cradle down to its minimal essence, to build geometric shell structures.”

ANDREW LYGHT

DW:
IN THE CATALOGUE FOR FULL CIRCLE, YOUR 2016 SOLO SHOW AT SAMUEL DORSKY MUSEUM OF ART, THERE’S A PHOTO OF YOU MAKING ART ON THE ROOF OF PS1 IN LONG ISLAND CITY IN 1978. IT’S ONE OF MY FAVORITE PHOTOS OF YOU. CAN YOU SHARE A MEMORY OF THAT TIME IN NEW YORK CITY?

AL:
During my artist residence at PS1 in Long Island City NY 1978-80 I had freedom to use the facilities which allow me work outdoor and indoor. It gave me the opportunity to work on the roof of PS1, continuing using steel for a rusting process of oxidation. The “Natural Painting” series, using water, air presence, moisture results in reddish or brownish patches of patterns canvas and paper which I started in Montreal Canada in 1976 working outdoor in the back of my studio space on the ground floor. This work was inspired by memory of hanging out on docks in Guyana looking at the surface of the huge hull of the ship with rust corrosion on the expose steel.

“This work blurs the boundaries between painting and sculpture by combining two- and three-dimensional elements that capture limitless imagination that know no bounds.”

ANDREW LYGHT

DW:
WHAT CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE WORKS IN SECOND NATURE, YOUR UPCOMING SOLO SHOW AT ANNA ZORINA GALLERY?

AL:
As a child I spent a lot of time on the docks with my uncle looking at the horizontal waterline stained surface of huge hull of the ship, expose steel causing it to rust pattern where paint chip off, look like big abstract painting. Another object that caught my eye during that time on docks was the unloading of 55-gallon drums of cooking oil. In the 1990s using industrial materials and methods. Recalling these, memory resulted in creating volume, using a 55-gallon drum, “Marking/Broken Column”, series, a play on an upright pillar, cylindrical with marking standing alone on open structure as a monument or lay horizontal as broken column. “Industrial Painting/Sheathing”, series, play on the lintel, a steel horizontal architectural member, a creating flat rectangular configuration that frame an open area around the picture plane.

I was initially inspired by the architecture of Guyana’s capital, Georgetown, where the streets, canals, and avenues are laid out in a rectangular patten devised by Dutch colonists in the eighteenth century. I then became intrigued by the architecture of other cities I have lived in, including Montreal, New York, and Rome. These experiences have had a profound impact on the conceptual underpinning and structural nature of the artwork that I have since created. This work blurs the boundaries between painting and sculpture by combining two- and three-dimensional elements that capture limitless imagination that know no bounds. The freehand drawn abstract glyphlike line on paper, thin steel sheet, and plywood sheathing, apply to the making of these artworks in Second Nature, consist of drawing on the curved surface of a 55-gallon drums, and the flat surface picture plane. These works date back 1990s to the present in the solo exhibition at Anna Zorina Gallery.

Andrew Lyght Markings/Broken Column, 1995-1996 black rust-oleum enamel, prismacolor pencil, epoxy resin on 55-gallon drum 34 x 23 in (86.4 x 58.4 cm) Courtesy of ANNA ZORINA GALLERY and the Artist. Photographer: Stan Narten — Andrew Lyght
*Markings/Broken Column*, 1995-1996
black rust-oleum enamel, prismacolor pencil, epoxy resin on 55-gallon drum 34 x 23 in (86.4 x 58.4 cm)
Courtesy of ANNA ZORINA GALLERY and the Artist. Photographer: Stan Narten

Andrew Lyght Second Nature is on view at ANNA ZORINA GALLERY in New York City, September 10 - October 24, 2020. To learn more, inquire about works or schedule an appointment visit the gallery website here.

Rebeca LaliberteSeptember 8, 2020

In Conversation: Dexter Wimberly with Andrew Lyght