Carl D'alvia: Sometimes Sculpture Deserves A Break

About

Known for his hyper-textured sculptures in resin, bronze, and marble, D’Alvia explores the limits of traditional sculpture, making work that is at once minimal and maximal, humorous and tragic. For his “Liths” series, D’Alvia continues to explore sculptural dichotomies with monumental works in painted aluminum that appear both hard and soft; serious and funny; masculine and feminine. Drawing from ancient monoliths as well as 1970’s works by Tony Conrad, Elizabeth Murray, Alexander Calder, and John McCracken, D’Alvia looks at the concept of the statue or monument—a trope he simultaneously reveres and pokes fun at—with a contemporary lens. D’Alvia softens the severe form of the monolith, introducing playfulness and humor, bridging old traditions together with the new to point to the work’s heavy, serious, and darker qualities.

Each sculpture assumes unique human qualities, taking on its own personality—for example, “Sap”is tired and flopped over, and “Loll”is stretched on the floor perhaps in a yoga pose. Introducing heightened color for the first time in his thirty-year practice, D’Alvia coats each work in a different shade of automotive paint, further adding to the humor and personality found in the works, and referencing the work of sculptors like John Chamberlain and George Sugarman. The series began with his 2017 sculpture “Lith”, which is currently on view at Art OMI in upstate New York.