It’s okay—natural, even—to feel slightly unsettled when viewing work by New York-based artist Daniel Arsham, whose signature “architectural interventions” transform ordinary white gallery walls into part of the exhibition. “They’re not loud,” Arsham says of the works. “Because I’m manipulating the existing walls, you can almost walk in and think there’s nothing there.” Almost. Parts of Arsham's walls appear to stretch and bend in uncanny ways, eliciting visceral reactions ranging from intrigue to confusion. In fact, considering those reactions is an integral part of his “hugely participatory” process: “I want people to feel that within these very rigid structures is the sense that things are malleable,” Arsham says. “The possibility for invention and play is endless.”

Daniel Arsham, "Hiding" (2011). Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Ohwow.

From January 20th to February 16th, Los Angeles gallery Ohwow will display “The Fall, the Ball, and the Wall,” Arsham’s first solo show in the city, one of whose centerpieces is a ripple in the wall that looks as though someone's hiding behind the plaster. “Daniel has such a distinct way of looking at sculpture; it’s forward-thinking and a little bit off, in a good way,” says Al Moran, co-founder of Ohwow. “He wanted to change the perception of our space, so people who had been here before could walk in and feel like they were somewhere completely different. That’s his strength—to break up the box.”

In addition to the interventions—Ohwow will be showing the largest section to date—will be two additional bodies of work that represent Arsham’s architecturally minded range: A floor-to-ceiling Pixel Cloud installation and a setpiece Arsham created for Merce Cunningham’s final performance at New York’s Park Avenue Armory. (The two began collaborating when Cunningham selected Arsham to design for him in 2007.) “Context is important,” says Arsham. “When you take things out of theater, they become completely different objects." Especially because in this case, viewers are afforded a much closer look.

Daniel Arsham, "Okay" (2011). Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Ohwow.

Arsham also designed three canvases specifically for the exhibition, employing a new technique which incorporates photographs, drawings, and digital renderings into half-tone prints which he then paints over. The modern collages introduce terms like “oops” and “okay” into a constructed skyline, playing on the way that small ideas writ large can take on outsize meanings. Elsewhere in the show, Arsham put quite a bit of stock into other seemingly trivial details: The aforementioned wall piece, “Hiding,” incorporates a pair of shoes that lend credence to its visual illusion, and on top of the time it took to perfect the sculpture itself, Arsham went through countless footwear options to get the right look. “It actually took longer than any other part of the project,” he admits. “Let’s just say it has a more expensive shoe collection than I do.” 

Daniel Arsham's "The Fall, the Ball, the Wall" at Ohwow
Title image: Daniel Arsham, "Oops" (2011). Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Ohwow.