Invisible Geometry: Beth King
HB Punto Experimental, San Diego
2151 Logan Ave. , Sec B
*by appointment only 760-443-9067
Article by Cathy Breslaw
Locating HB Punto Experimental Gallery is an adventure in itself. Knowing the street address is only half the journey – but the trip is worth it. Around the corner and halfway down an alley off Evans Street/Logan Avenue, you enter a gate and into a world created by gallery owner Hugo Heredia. Once inside there is a unique space Heredia has designed as a living space where art is also displayed and as Heredia explained, art can be experienced in a “ real living space’. Alongside this large room and kitchen area, is the main exhibition space. Long and narrow and emptying into an “L” shaped room is where the current show “Invisible Geometry” is displayed.
Artist Beth King is a San Diego artist who has been working for many years to develop and hone her well crafted clear glass sculptures. Working with a reductive simplicity of form and content, King’s sculptures remind us of the mid-twentieth century Minimalist art movement. Her materials include clear and sandblasted glass – some flat and some bent, custom aluminum hardware, steel cable, and chrome hinges. While her materials are narrowly defined and basic, her intent is more complex. The mostly wall based works along one entire wall have ‘moving parts’ that can be arranged flat against the wall or in a 3-D manner as hinges move the parts back and forth. The one large floor sculpture in the main room is made of many clear curvy yet flat glass pieces that form a rectangle with aluminum connectors. There are two cone-shaped works – one juts out perpendicular to the wall and one much larger sculpture rests on a white painted wood stand adjacent to the floor.
In her works, King gives us a view of all parts. Nothing is hidden and the hinges and hardware for the works are both artfully and functionally connected to each piece. King’s sculptures clearly interact and at points dissolve into the ‘environment’. Artificial and natural light play a key role in viewing the works. Wall works especially react to light with sharp shadows on the walls giving an added dimension that is unique to its location in space. With thoroughly planned precision and attention to every detail, King offers us a vision and perception of space, light and form not routinely seen in our daily lives.
