A lot has happened in the world and with Yanko's career since 2017. Yanko has had ten solo shows, was selected to participate in the prestigious residency program at the Rubell Museum, exhibited her work at the Parrish Art Museum in a show curated by Mickalene Thomas and Racquel Chevremont, was included in exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum and Art Basel Switzerland and has an upcoming solo show at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburg.
Yanko created a variety of complex forms with twisted and bent metal. Many are wall hung, while others are free-standing. The sculptures Sing to her, Pink and green music, and Ode to Hugs have welcoming womb-like forms. Pink and green music has a uterine form with a pink paint skin. Walking up a few steps to the "stage" level of the gallery is Ode to Hugs, one of the largest sculptures in the show. With a mastery of stagecraft and lighting, the heavy sculpture appears almost weightless and floating in space. The two gallery levels are connected and divided by a piece of yellow string stretched from floor to ceiling in a V shape that Yanko refers to as shadow perspective. I climbed a full flight of stairs to the "mezzanine" level of the gallery. I was surprised by a different type of sculptural form draped with a black paint skin.
The sculpture Collective Haum is a closed form turned away from the viewer as if its back is turned toward us, turning away from life. Is it a visual metaphor for death? I turned away from the sculpture to survey the other sculptures from the high vantage point overlooking the gallery and wondered if Yanko had just taken me on a metaphysical journey from womb to tomb. Did the humming stop here?
Kennedy Yanko’s Humming on Life continues at Jeffrey Deitch Gallery 18 Wooster St., NYC through April 22nd. There will be an artist talk with Kennedy Yanko and Alteronce Gumby on Thursday April 20th at 6:30pm.
