101/EXHIBIT proudly presents American Iron, a solo exhibition from American artist Chambliss Giobbi. This is the artist’s second solo showing with the gallery and will include new photo collage-based works and sculpture. The opening reception with the artist will be held on Saturday, February 15, from 7 – 10pm, and will conclude on March 29th. 101/exhibit is located in West Hollywood at 8920 Melrose Ave on the corner of North Almont Drive, one block east of Santa Monica Blvd.

“ON ACCOUNT OF THE PERSISTENCY OF AN IMAGE UPON THE RETINA, MOVING OBJECTS CONSTANTLY MULTIPLY THEMSELVES; THEIR FORM CHANGES LIKE RAPID VIBRATIONS, IN THEIR MAD CAREER. THUS A RUNNING HORSE HAS NOT FOUR LEGS, BUT TWENTY, AND THEIR MOVEMENTS ARE TRIANGULAR.”

–GIACOMO BALLA, 1912

American Iron is a body of work ranging from 2011-13 that constructs a visual language for the singular American expression of inventiveness, expanse, and ultimate collapse. Our culture celebrates the triumph of engineering and production in all its muscular, aggressive glory, yet it is inevitably followed by passive neglect.

By way of Giobbi’s unique vernacular and vision, the consequence of transportation is the prime impetus of discussion. Addressed via his signature photo collage works as well as the most extensive survey of his sculptural work to date, this exhibition will feature three new mobiles constructed out of thousands of Matchbox and Hot Wheels toy cars. The cars are then formed around an armature into Möbius strips, representative of the commonplace traffic rat race we are forced to participate in with our automobiles.

The Möbius sculptures may be easily interpreted as glossy, high-chroma eye candy, but are instead attempts to reconcile a brand of cheery American optimism with the often monotonous, repetitive journey of American life. Though a daily ritual, rarely do we meditate on the real significance of moving from enclosed structure to enclosed structure, using the vehicle to make a fleeting pass at nature (and in spite of it; global warming, air and noise pollution, disruption of wildlife habitats, road rage, etc.). As a geometric anomaly, the Möbius strip then represents a non-orientable netherworld of existence—the notion of perpetually returning to origin—or as some would prefer, staying at the start to begin with to avoid the commute's rigors.

To the influential early twentieth century Hungarian artist László Moholy-Nagy (who invested a considerable amount of time challenging popular notions of the camera’s significance) the vehicle was a machine that engendered a perspectival order and logic of space different from Albertian rules of onepoint linear perspective. Due to the speed of travel made possible by automobiles, Moholy-Nagy concluded that we became liberated from the slow-paced pedestrian constraints of perception, subject to a new medium of visualization to further comprehend space. This element of mobilization is then echoed in the kinetic rotating quality of Giobbi’s mobiles, negating the single-point viewing perspective.

Giobbi also employs the inherent power, speed, and aggression of motorcycles and Greco-Roman wrestling as notions of abandon, freedom, and volatility. The titles of the motorcycle collages and sculptures found in this exhibition, (toy model motorcycle parts serve as the source material), refer to the mythic characters in Wagner’s Ring Cycle: Brunnhilde, the rebellious daughter of the God Wotan, the Rhine Maidens, who protect the Rhine Gold, and Alberich, who steals the Rhine Gold by renouncing love forever. As is still too often the case in modern culture, the figures in this epic opera are overwhelmingly ruled by their passions and hurtle towards their fate recklessly. These collages and sculptures cite the Italian Futurist Filippo Marinetti’s thought, “The dreamt-of metallization of the human body.”

Consequently, functioning as a human complement to the exhibition, the wresters depicted in the pair of photo collages entitled Half Nelson and Duckunder are engaged in a time-cluster of competitive motion, providing a platform for both physical and psychological mutation. Here Giobbi attempts to, through a neo-Cubist manipulation of time, reach a state of entropy by disassembling static notions of chronology.

Chambliss Giobbi was born in New York City in 1963. He earned his BFA in Music Composition and Theory from Boston University in 1986 before shifting into the field of contemporary visual art. He was the recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship (1991) and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1996. Giobbi’s work has been featured in group exhibitions at venues in Barcelona, Bucharest, London, Detroit, New York and Miami. His work is held in the permanent collection of the Museo De Bellas Artes in Santander, Spain. Publications such as BOMB Magazine, SLEEK Magazine (Berlin), FlashArt (online edition) and The New York Times have included Giobbi and his work. Giobbi lives and works in New York City.

101/EXHIBIT is a contemporary art program dedicated to presenting American and international emerging and established talent. Spanning multiple mediums, with a particular focus on figurative painting and drawing, the gallery engages its audience with a finely tuned roster of artists in consistent and flourishing states of production in practice. 101/EXHIBIT is unique in its twofold mission to promote the artist and to inspire the collector. Founded by Sloan Schaffer in 2008, the gallery is situated within the heart of West Hollywood, CA with ancillary spaces in Los Angeles, New York, and Miami.