John Rose
String Theory
C2 Gallery

February 5 - 26, 2011
RECEPTION: Saturday, February 5th, 6-8pm

“According to String Theory, absolutely everything in the universe - all of the particles that make up matter - is comprised of tiny, vibrating strings. The only difference between one string and another is its vibration or resonant pattern. The fundamental particles of the universe that physicists have indentified – atoms, protons, neutrons, electrons and quarks – are the characters of all matter. If we could examine these particles with great precision, we would find that each is not point-like but instead consists of a tiny loop, like an infinitely thin rubber band, so each particle contains a vibrating, oscillating, dancing, filament that physicists have named a string.” – Brian Green, The Elegant Universe

ROBERT BERMAN GALLERY presents String Theory - an exhibition of wood sculptures by John Rose.
Long, thin strips of poplar wood are curved into large organic forms resembling the most invisible but powerful fundamental components of our world: strings. Informed by DNA spiral and protein configuration imagery captured by electron microscopes and inspired by Chinese calligraphy and zen status, Rose weaves and twists until the form resolves itself. From there, an internal bone structure is built and then cocooned by another layer of poplar. The final work - after much sanding, grinding and finishing with aniline dye lacquer - is seemingly endless and weightless; its circuitous pattern always in motion.
“Each of the forms I construct intones a certain fluidity, derived from the fusion of the graphic and scientific, distilled into a pure essence. I use poplar wood because of its great malleability and simple surface qualities, which allows evidence of the process of making and remaking to remain. Each piece is a new challenge; growing more complex, more open, encapsulating and possessing space as a positive thing. And generating lots of new softer shadows,” Rose articulates.

John Rose moved from England to China in 1976 to teach painting and drawing at the University of Hong Kong while exhibiting regularly at the Hong Kong Arts Center. Rose traveled extensively throughout Asia and was a painter until the early 1990s when his work took on a more three-dimensional format and evolved into sculpture. His work is found in the permanent collections of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the California Polytechnic School of Education in Sacramento, the Kavli Institute of Theoretical Physics, UC – Santa Barbara, the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation in Los Angeles and in corporations and hotels around the world. Rose currently lives and works in Venice, CA.