The Art Newspaper

Fantastic elastic

By The Art Newspaper. From In The Frame
Published online: 23 September 2009

Andy Warhol was never one to shy away from kinkiness, so it comes as rather fitting to see an exhibition entitled “Unnatural Rubber” opening at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh this month. For the show, sponsor Lanxess Corporation, a leading manufacturer of synthetic rubber, invited 15 artists to submit ideas for what they would do with a load of the elastic material. The winners, Hank Willis Thomas and Ryan Alexiev, created the work Wheel of Fortune, a massive hanging sculpture made of tyres that reflects the production of synthetic rubber over the past 100 years. The other submissions will also be on view, many revealing a much more sensual response to the medium, such as Michael Kalmbach’s undulating Rubber Kiss sculpture or Emiko Kashara’s Skin to Skin installation.