Alex Wolkowicz: Deep Dive

About

The Pyramid club has been iconic in New York City nightlife since its opening in 1979 and in the forefront of the downtown performance, drag, punk, gay and rock scene. It has been through several incarnations over the years with the latest being Baker Falls, which opened in the summer of 2023.

Deep Dive honors the opening of Baker Falls and commemorates the Pyramid Club as a cultural touchstone for artists, performers, outsiders and drag queens. Whilst under construction, Wolkowicz treated the space as an archaeological excavation site by collecting textures of the architectural details of the interior space using wet pouring techniques and graphite frottage rubbings.

She refers to the resulting painted textile pieces as skins. The skins are draped and formed to dress the space and reference the layers of history and nostalgic memories hidden beneath the surface, or behind the curtain and waiting to be rediscovered and now preserved.

Also included is a sculpture constructed of wire and fabric that evokes memories reminiscent of wigs, costumes, and the performance history at the venue. Deep Dive is a visual record and sort of time capsule that documents a cultural relic and the zeitgeist that is ever-changing and in a constant state of flux and transformation.

The Deep Dive exhibition is held in conjunction with the production of a new play Rip Tide at Axis Theater, by downtown legendary artist Edgar Oliver about his formative years at The Pyramid Club. Oliver will perform original works at the opening reception of Deep Dive.

Born in Germany, Wolkowicz is a multimedia artist who currently lives and works in NYC. Her installations explore the passing of time and the utilization of spaces. Wolkowicz simultaneously examines an external place and herself in relationship to it by layering and constructing materials. She uses references to camouflage and the body as well as drapery in classical sculpture to tease out the complexities and shifting notions inherent in the process. Her work has been included in numerous exhibitions in the US and abroad.