gregor gaida - attaboys

German artist Gregor Gaida has a pretty remarkable body of sculptural work. He's particularly interested in the figure, creating life-sized sculptures engaged in symbolic action. My favorite of his installations is Attaboys, which you see here, featuring a pair of aluminum boys engaged in the act of ripping up the floor. Gaida has said that he creates narratives with his work, which I think is especially true with this particular piece. As he explained in a recent gallery show at Parrotta Contemporary:

Many of my works combine positively charged components which in their sum and constellation, however, have a negative impact. The often aestheticized shape and the object-like character of my works in inconsistent with a narrative. The image I create wavers between attraction and repulsion. The narrative character of the figurative, however, plays a vital role. I tell stories without spelling them out. Merely the possibility of a story is suggested. The created moment is chosen in such a way that it is not, yet, decipherable. The connection and spaces between persons, motives, signs and symbols are open and undefined and so from an allegory of the events of present, past, and future, days.

The allure of the work lies in the beauty of the figurative sculptures juxtaposed with their inherent violence to create a narrative that is at once captivating and unsettling. See more of Gaida's work on his website.

(Via Colossal)