Patrick Jacobs

Gold Cap Cluster #2, 2011. Styrene, acrylic, cast neoprene, paper, polyurethane foam, hair, wood, steel, lighting, BK7 glass. 2-inch exposed lens. Interior box dimensions: approximately 10.6 (wide) x 14.4 (high) x 8.75 (deep) inches.

  

I must say, I was very pleasantly surprised by this year's contemporary section at the Armory Show. The past few years had left me fairly underwhelmed, but I actually found quite a lot to like about this year's group of galleries and artists.  Of course, there are always a few stand-outs, and Patrick Jacobs and his miniature, bucolic sculptures was definitely one of my favorites.

 Fairy Ring with Dandelions, 2010. Styrene, acrylic, neoprene, hair, paper, polyurethene foam, wood, hair, steel, lighting, BK7 glass. 8-inch exposed lens. Interior box dimensions: 48.25 (wide) x 30.25 (high) x 23.25 (deep) inches.

Fairy Ring Mushroom Cluster #5, 2012. Styrene, acrylic, cast neoprene, paper, polyurethane foam, hair, wood, steel, lighting, BK-7 Glass 2-inch exposed lens. Interior box 10.6 x 14.4 x 8.75 inches.

Raked Leaves (Detail), 2011. Styrene, acrylic, cast neoprene, paper, polyurethane foam, hair, wood, steel, lighting, BK7 glass. 7.5-inch exposed lens. Interior box dimensions: approximately 33 (wide) x 28 (high) x 28 (deep) inches.

Fly Agaric Cluster #2, 2011. Styrene, acrylic, cast neoprene, paper, polyurethane foam, hair, wood, steel, lighting, BL7 glass. 2-inch exposed lens. Interior box dimensions: approximately 14 (wide) x 10 (high) x 9 (deep) inches.

Each of Jacobs' works is a meticulously constructed, three-dimensional diorama installed within the wall and viewed through a circular glass lens. Even with the dimensions listed, it's difficult to get a sense of the scale of these works, but the illusion that's created by them, which gives the viewer a sense of peering into a secret, seemingly infinite landscape, is both otherworldly and magical.

Jacobs draws inspiration from sources as diverse as historical landscape painting and contemporary chemical companies’ home and garden pest control brochures, such as Chevon’s Ortho Books. Recalling the Claude glass, an optical device popular in the 18th century used to frame the picturesque, the lenses invoke the invisible eye of the wary homeowner searching an otherwise vacant domestic landscape for imagined interlopers. Ortho, Greek for “correct,” further alludes to the unending quest to control any divergence from the norm, as well as the manipulation of our sense of perspective. With such a fusion of influences, these quiet compositions offer a magical view of the mundane. Here, reality has been de-familiarized, and the uncanny has supplanted the commonplace.

See more of Jacobs' work at Pierogi Gallery.