Works
Various Artists
Objects for a Heavenly Cave
September 07 – October 12 2024
On View
September 07 – October 12 2024
Wednesday – Saturday
Noon – 5PM
Marta
3021 Rowena Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90039
Marta is part of PST ART as a Gallery Program Participant. Returning in September 2024 with its latest edition, PST ART: Art & Science Collide, this landmark regional event explores the intersections of art and science, both past and present. PST ART is presented by Getty.
View press coverage of Objects for a Heavenly Cave via The New York Times’ T Magazine, World of Interiors, For Scale, and Wallpaper*
With — A History of Frogs, Sula Bermúdez-Silverman, Charlap Hyman & Herrero, Valentina Cameranesi Sgroi, Lily Clark, F Taylor Colantonio, Emily Endo, Ficus Interfaith, Mr. Liz Hopkins, MT Objects, James Naish, Emma Witter, and Masaomi Yasunaga; curated by Krista Mileva-Frank.
Conchological Cabinet
Marta and guest curator Krista Mileva-Frank are pleased to present Objects for a Heavenly Cave, a group exhibition that explores the materiality and mythos of the grotto. Grottoes—cave-like spaces in which the natural and the artificial merge—have long been a vibrant site for material experimentation. The Renaissance grotto was an aesthetic laboratory and a place of symbiosis between human and non-human entities: stalactites ‘grew’ with the help of hidden water spouts, moss crept over lava rock walls, and microorganisms deteriorated marble sculptures. Designers learned from nature by staging and imitating petrification and decay, inventing the style we now know as the ‘grotesque.’
Inspired by a broad set of historical references, the thirteen artists and collectives in the exhibition consider these sensorily-rich spaces as a prompt for contemporary practice. Emma Witter’s electroformed copper oyster shell ‘shelves’ accrete like mineral formations onto the gallery walls. Masaomi Yasunaga’s glaze vessels studded with rocks and feldspar, emerge from the ashen kiln as if uncovered from the bottom of the ocean. James Naish’s cast bronze candelabra pululates with snail shells and Silk Floss tree spikes gathered on neighborhood walks.
Taking its title from the first scholarly monograph on the grotto, the feminist historian Naomi Miller’s Heavenly Caves: Reflections on the Garden Grotto (1982), the exhibition explores the contradictory status of the grotto as a ‘heavenly cave’: at once ethereal and terrestrial, sacred and profane, inert and shimmering with life. The diverse practices in the show reflect those modes: Ficus Interfaith’s Crab Bucket terrazzo fountain seethes with the spiky energy of a crowded tide pool, while Valentina Cameranesi Sgroi’s borosilicate glass chalices evoke water-slicked, riparian creatures, exquisite and dangerous in equal parts. Charlap Hyman & Herrero’s in-situ grotto installation juxtaposes enormous shells with high-tech steel hardware to echo the chiaroscuro of an Early Modern conchological cabinet.
If, as Indigenous and critical theories of the environment tell us, our contemporary ecological crisis derives in part from our seeing ourselves as separate from nature, this group show presents a playful but historically resonant attempt to mend that rift. Dripping, glimmering, and redolent of water and stone, twenty-four ‘objects for a heavenly cave’ revive the material logics of the grotto, combining a honed, multi-sensory attention with a spirit of excess, irreverence, and imagination.
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About the Curator
Krista Mileva-Frank is a design historian and PhD candidate in History, Theory, and Criticism of Architecture and Art at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her dissertation examines grottoes and rock landscapes in nineteenth-century France and Latin America in the context of environmental transformation, labor, and racial politics. She has lectured widely, at institutions including Yale University and the University of Cambridge, and at the conferences of the Society of Architectural Historians and the College Art Association.
Sula Bermúdez-Silverman’s work appears courtesy of Josh Lilley.
Valentina Cameranesi Sgroi’s work appears courtesy of Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery.
F Taylor Colantonio’s work appears courtesy of Object & Thing.
Ficus Interfaith’s work appears courtesy of Deli Gallery.
MT Objects’ work appears courtesy of Ago Projects.
Emma Witter’s work appears courtesy of Gallery FUMI.
Masaomi Yasunaga’s work appears courtesy of Nonaka-Hill.
Works
A History of Frogs
Eos Sconce I, 2024
Aluminum, Lighting
9.0 H × 9.0 W × 4.0 D in.
22.9 H × 22.9 W × 10.2 D cm
Edition of 2
A History of Frogs
Eos Sconce II, 2024
Aluminum, Lighting
10.0 H × 8.5 W × 4.0 D in.
25.4 H × 21.6 W × 10.2 D cm
Edition of 2
A History of Frogs
Eos Sconce III, 2024
Aluminum, Lighting
11.0 H × 8.0 W × 4.0 D in.
27.9 H × 20.3 W × 10.2 D cm
Edition of 2
A History of Frogs
Eos Sconce IV, 2024
Aluminum, Lighting
12.0 H × 10.0 W × 4.0 D in.
30.5 H × 25.4 W × 10.2 D cm
Edition of 2
A History of Frogs
Eos Sconce V, 2024
Aluminum, Lighting
9.5 H × 8.0 W × 4.0 D in.
24.1 H × 20.3 W × 10.2 D cm
Edition of 2
A History of Frogs
One Handed House, 2024
Bronze
7.5 H × 3.25 W × 3.0 D in.
19.1 H × 8.3 W × 7.6 D cm
A History of Frogs
A House for Raindrops, 2024
Bronze
11.0 H × 5.0 W × 3.75 D in.
27.9 H × 12.7 W × 9.5 D cm
A History of Frogs
Stick Bug House, 2024
Bronze
13.0 H × 4.5 W × 4.75 D in.
33.0 H × 11.4 W × 12.1 D cm
Sula Bermúdez-Silverman
Here Be Dragons, 2022
Epoxy Resin, Moss, Transparency Film, Miniature Items
28.0 H × 36.0 W × 2.0 D in.
71.0 H × 91.0 W × 5.0 D cm
Charlap Hyman & Herrero
Nautilus Shell Pendant, 2024
Shell, Lighting
8.0 H × 9.0 W × 4.0 D in.
20.3 H × 22.9 W × 10.2 D cm
Charlap Hyman & Herrero
Nautilus Shell Sconce, 2024
Shell, Polished Aluminum, Lighting
13.0 H × 3.0 W × 9.5 D in.
33.0 H × 7.6 W × 24.1 D cm
Ed. of 2
Charlap Hyman & Herrero
Nautilus Shell Table Lamp, 2024
Shell, Polished Aluminum, Lighting
18.5 H × 8.0 W × 8.0 D in.
47.0 H × 20.3 W × 20.3 D cm
Charlap Hyman & Herrero
Nautilus Shell Torchiere, 2024
Shell, Polished Aluminum, Lighting
78.75 H × 10.0 W × 10.0 D in.
200.0 H × 25.4 W × 25.4 D cm
Valentina Cameranesi Sgroi
Airone, 2024
Borosilicate Glass
8.1 H × 5.9 W × 5.9 D in.
20.5 H × 15.0 W × 15.0 D cm
Valentina Cameranesi Sgroi
Cigni, 2024
Borosilicate Glass
7.1 H × 4.9 W × 4.9 D in.
18.0 H × 12.5 W × 12.5 D cm
Valentina Cameranesi Sgroi
Corvo, 2024
Borosilicate Glass
8.5 H × 4.5 W × 4.5 D in.
21.5 H × 11.5 W × 11.5 D cm
Valentina Cameranesi Sgroi
Pellicano, 2024
Borosilicate Glass
6.7 H × 6.7 W × 6.7 D in.
17.0 H × 17.0 W × 17.0 D cm
Lily Clark
Dew Point III, 2024
Superhydrophobic Stoneware Ceramic, Stainless Steel, Water
16.0 H × 14.25 W × 14.75 D in.
40.6 H × 36.2 W × 37.5 D cm
Lily Clark
Water Thief, 2024
Blue Stone, Stainless Steel, Water
48.0 H × 17.5 W × 12.0 D in.
121.9 H × 44.5 W × 30.5 D cm
F Taylor Colantonio
Now Folds the Lily (Nocturne No. 5), 2023
Polished & Unpolished Cartapesta
20.5 H × 10.6 W × 4.7 D in.
52.0 H × 27.0 W × 12.0 D cm
Emily Endo
Nymphaeum, 2024
Glass, Shell, Volcanic Rock, Perfume
23.5 W × 23.5 D × 9.0 H in.
59.7 W × 59.7 D × 22.9 H cm
Emily Endo
Nymphaeum, 2024
Glass, Perfume
3.0 H × 3.0 W × 3.0 D in.
7.6 H × 7.6 W × 7.6 D cm
Ed. of 6
Emily Endo
Siratus Drip I, 2024
Glass, Shell, Volcanic Rock, Perfume
6.25 H × 7.25 W × 4.5 D in.
15.9 H × 18.4 W × 11.4 D cm
Emily Endo
Siratus Drip II, 2024
Glass, Shell, Volcanic Rock, Perfume
4.0 H × 8.0 W × 5.0 D in.
10.2 H × 20.3 W × 12.7 D cm
Ficus Interfaith
Crab Bucket, 2024
Cementitious Terrazzo, Zinc, Steel, Water
13.5 H × 32.0 W × 32.0 D in.
34.3 H × 81.3 W × 81.3 D cm
Mr. Liz Hopkins
Teach Me How To Touch Me Again, Marie, 2024
Resin, Fiberglass, Plaster, Recycled Foam Board, Lighting
39.5 H × 10.0 W × 5.0 D in.
100.3 H × 25.4 W × 17.8 D cm
MT Objects
Flower Mountain Vase No. 02, 2021
Ceramic, Purépecha Glaze
18.0 H × 12.5 W × 13.0 D in.
45.7 H × 31.8 W × 33.0 D cm
MT Objects
Giant Flower Mountain Vase, 2021
Ceramic, Purépecha Glaze
21.75 H × 24.0 W × 21.5 D in.
55.3 H × 61.0 W × 54.6 D cm
James Naish
Aphros, 2024
Cast & Welded Bronze
20.0 H × 10.0 W × 8.0 D in.
50.8 H × 25.4 W × 20.3 D cm
James Naish
Ombra, 2024
Welded Bronze
88.0 H × 18.0 W × 18.0 D in.
223.5 H × 45.7 W × 45.7 D cm
James Naish
Corycia, 2024
Steel
71.0 W × 21.0 D × 17.0 H in.
180.3 W × 53.3 D × 43.2 H cm
Emma Witter
Mermaid’s Goblets, 2024
Found Object, [British Native] Oyster
Shells, Electro-formed Copper,
Crystal Resin, Metallic Pigment
L 6.0 H × 6.0 W × 4.5 D in.
15.2 H × 15.2 W × 11.4 D cm
R 5.75 H × 6.0 W × 4.0 D in.
14.6 H × 15.2 W × 10.2 D cm
Emma Witter
Merman’s Goblets, 2024
Found Object, [British Native] Oyster
Shells, Electro-formed Copper,
Crystal Resin, Metallic Pigment
L 5.5 H × 7.0 W × 3.5 D in.
14.0 H × 17.8 W × 8.9 D cm
R 6.25 H × 6.0 W × 3.5 D in.
15.9 H × 15.2 W × 8.9 D cm
Emma Witter
The Soft Animal of Your Body 1 – 7, 2024
Found Object, [British Native] Oyster Shells, Electro-formed Copper, Crystal Resin, Metallic Pigment
Dimensions Variable
1.6 H × 3.2 W × 1.6 D – 2.8 H × 13.8 W × 5.1 D in.
4.0 H × 8.0 W × 4.0 D – 7.0 H × 35.0 W × 13.0 D cm
Emma Witter
The Soft Animal of Your Body 1, 2024
Found Object, [British Native] Oyster Shells, Electro-formed Copper, Crystal Resin, Metallic Pigment
2.75 H × 5.5 W × 3.5 D in.
7.0 H × 14.0 W × 9.0 D cm
Emma Witter
The Soft Animal of Your Body 2, 2024
Found Object, [British Native] Oyster Shells, Electro-formed Copper, Crystal Resin, Metallic Pigment
3.0 H × 10.6 W × 4.7 D in.
7.5 H × 27.0 W × 12.0 D cm
Emma Witter
The Soft Animal of Your Body 3, 2024
Found Object, [British Native] Oyster Shells, Electro-formed Copper, Crystal Resin, Metallic Pigment
2.75 H × 13.8 W × 5.1 D in.
7.0 H × 35.0 W × 13.0 D cm
Emma Witter
The Soft Animal of Your Body 4, 2024
Found Object, [British Native] Oyster Shells, Electro-formed Copper, Crystal Resin, Metallic Pigment
2.4 H × 7.9 W × 4.3 D in.
6.0 H × 20.0 W × 11.0 D cm
Emma Witter
The Soft Animal of Your Body 5, 2024
Found Object, [British Native] Oyster Shells, Electro-formed Copper, Crystal Resin, Metallic Pigment
2.0 H × 6.3 W × 3.5 D in.
5.0 H × 16.0 W × 9.0 D cm
Emma Witter
The Soft Animal of Your Body 6/7, 2024
Found Object, [British Native] Oyster Shells, Electro-formed Copper, Crystal Resin, Metallic Pigment
L 1.6 H × 5.5 W × 2.8 D in.
4.0 H × 14.0 W × 7.0 D cm
R 1.6 H × 3.2 W × 1.6 D in.
4.0 H × 8.0 W × 4.0 D cm
Masaomi Yasunaga
Melting Vessel 熔ける器, 2024
Glaze, Slip, Kiln Wash, Iron, Kaolin
19.5 H × 9.8 D × 11.0 W in.
49.5 H × 25.0 D × 28.0 W cm
Masaomi Yasunaga
Melting Vessel 熔ける器, 2024
Glaze, Iron, Kiln Wash, Kaolin
13.0 H × 9.1 W × 8.7 D in.
33.0 H × 23.0 W × 22.0 D cm
Masaomi Yasunaga
Melting Vessel 熔ける器, 2024
Glaze, Colored Glaze, Silica, Kaolin
18.1 H × 15.75 W × 9.7 D in.
46.0 H × 40.0 W × 24.5 D cm
Marta is a Los Angeles-based, globally-engaged art gallery. Founded in 2019, the gallery makes space for artists to experiment with the utility of design, and for designers to explore the abandonment of function. Marta’s curatorial and publication programs take interest in the process of a work’s creation as well the narrative of its creator(s). Marta embraces the intersection of and the transition between disciplines, advocates for diversity in design, and promotes broad access to the arts.