“I was a terrible musician, so that’s why I make art,” Jim Lambie once said in an interview. For Spiritualized, his fifth solo exhibition at Anton Kern Gallery in Chelsea, the Glaswegian sculptor has produced a circus of colors and materials that’s just as audible as it is visual—from the overt musical references in his Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, and Mick Jagger vinyl wall posters to the subtle vibrations he channels with his use of repetitive lines. Those colorful striations line a series of vortexes carved into the gallery walls, creating a feeling of rhythm and reverberation throughout the space.

 Jim Lambie, "Belt Buckle (Voodoo Ray)" (2011)

Lambie constructs an even more obviously immersive environment in the 24-foot-long installation “Sun Orchid” (2011), in which twelve mirrors with dog-eared and painted edges invite visitors to view themselves side-by-side with the other works, revealing a multitude of possible perspectives on the show. Among those other works are neon spray-painted belts that dot the walls and a heavy looking steel-and-concrete floor piece (below) that runs nearly the width of the gallery, taking over much of its physical and psychic space.

Jim Lambie, "Metal Urbain" (2011)

The show’s title piece is a prime example of how Lambie uses common materials to create objects that are at once familiar and ambiguous: A constellation of chairs sport poured-cement seats, with mason jars containing colored T-shirts hanging underneath them and another giant belt looped incongruously above. Lambie not only blurs the lines between various mediums—art and music—he also blurs the division between everyday items and fine art objects, resulting in an engaging production that we can see and hear, loud and clear.

Jim Lambie's Spiritualized at Anton Kern Gallery
Title image: "Vortex (Sticky Fingers)" by Jim Lambie (2011). Photos: Courtesy Anton Kern Gallery, New York.

Jim Lambie, "Spiritualized" (2011)