Artists continually draw on outside sources for inspiration, and their personal experiences always influence their work. Regardless of the results, influences from the world around the artist are impossible to avoid. "Davis, Cherubini, In Contention," the collaboration between sculptors Taylor Davis and Nicole Cherubini at MIT's List Visual Arts Center, takes this theme to new heights. Instead of simply drawing on one set of ideas and inspirations to channel into their work, the two artists work together on each piece so that two different sets of influences are directly infused into each finished product.
Davis and Cherubini both had successful separate careers before meeting each other and starting to work together in 2006. Although they now work as a team, Davis and Cherubini still strive to maintain some independence as artists. The authorship for the pieces is listed as "Davis, Cherubini," and both artists maintain separate studios in Boston and New York, respectively.
A set of abstract pieces in "Davis, Cherubini, In Contention" combines wooden, geometrically rigid structures with loose, more freeform pieces made of vividly glazed clay. The work recalls both the natural and material worlds.
The two artists don't collaborate in a conventional fashion. Instead, they have devised a method which allows each artist to add a personal touch to the works of art. One artist starts the piece and then sends the unfinished work to the second artist, who completes it. It's easy to tell which artist created which part of each piece since Davis works in wood and Cherubini works in clay, but the finished pieces still read cohesively. The result is a body of work that raises a conversation about the independence, separation and cooperation of the many influences found in each artist's world.
Upon entering the MIT gallery, the viewer is presented with a stark space, the mostly gray and turquoise sculptures scattered evenly throughout the room. The pieces are abstract, but the forms still lend themselves to the natural world. One of the first pieces of the exhibit bears some resemblance to a sparse tree. It is a tall piece, with a slate-gray clay form emerging from three stacked plywood forms, one cube, one cylinder and one rectangular prism with orange spray paint dripping down one side. The clay is molded into a narrow, branch-like shape, which splits in two near the top. It is riddled with fingerprints, providing a sharp contrast to the plywood forms at the bottom, and hinting at the human touch that went into the work's creation.
The conflict between the geometric and the organic, the natural and the fabricated elements, invites viewers to separate the piece into two mediums, but at the same time, the project is still recognizable as a whole. Upon closer examination, it is easy to see the split between the two elements, but this does not take away from its overall cohesiveness. This divide is vital, because the end effect is a singular voice, though it is one that expresses many ideas and influences.
"Davis, Cherubini, In Contention" is a show being pulled in two directions: one toward separation and the other toward cohesion. There is a certain degree of ambiguity in the pieces. The influences of both artists can usually be seen, yet the completed works blend both of their styles into something cohesive. It's obvious to viewers that in creating these pieces, the artists became mere vehicles for their art. The ideas that the pieces express trump any claim to individual authorship. It doesn't matter that Davis and Cherubini are two different people because their ideas and influences combine so seamlessly that, rather than detracting from the exhibition's cohesiveness, they strengthen the messages expressed through their work.
