Carol Bove, 'The Foamy Saliva of a Horse' (detail), 2011, Found metal, bronze, driftwood, sea shells, peacock feathers, steel, gold chain, silver chain, foam, styrofoam
© Carol Bove. Courtesy of Ovitz Family Collection, Los Angeles. Photo by Lorenzo Vitturi
Driftwood, peacock feathers, seashells, books and concrete all appear in the work of New York-based artist Carol Bove. In exquisite installations that combine an array of found and fabricated elements, Bove demonstrates an intense understanding of display through the collection of plinths, frames, supports and stands that become as much part of the work as the items they hold.
Presenting objects and artefacts in arrangements that heighten the symbolic meaning and relationship between them, Bove’s meticulous assemblages bring to the fore the cultural, spiritual, mystical and even psychological associations that adhere to objects through time.
Carol Bove, 'The Foamy Salive of a Horse', installation view, The Common Guild, 2013. Photo: Ruth Clark
The exhibition at The Common Guild comprises a re-arrangement of her highly acclaimed installation ‘The Foamy Saliva of a Horse’, which was presented at the 54th Venice Biennale. Featuring a collection of found and hand-made objects, such as a piece of driftwood suspended in a polished bronze frame, the installation brought together seemingly random objects that, while natural in origin, call to mind the artifice of cultural value and meaning.
This is the first public exhibition of Bove’s work in the UK. It follows her participation in several important international exhibitions including the 54th Venice Biennale and dOCUMENTA 13, in which she realised her first outdoor work.
