If you think the tabs on pop top cans are mundane subject matter, Alice Hope will likely change your mind with a show at the Ricco Maresca Gallery in Chelsea. There, viewers will find a range of tab-inspired artworks that either incorporate the small metal pieces of flotsam, elevate the form to sizable hanging sculpture, or come up with other interpretations wholly unique to the artist. At an opening on April 3, Ms. Hope, who received her M.F.A. from Yale University, decorated the attendees with tabs on necklaces and temporary tab tattoos. Drinks (including the retro diet soda called Tab) were served in cans and patrons were asked to leave the tab in a glass recepticle. The inspiration came from Ms. Hope's engagement with the form, which her gallery notes is aligned with the golden ratio, as well as a 700-pound trove of them she found in one recycling bin. Struck by their accumulated beauty and significant associations to consumption, waste, and well-meaning redemption, she got to work on the pieces in the show on view through May 24.
Published 5 years ago
Last updated 5 years ago
Hope's East Hampton 'Tab Lab' Gets a Showing in Chelsea
Tabs on the floor and tabs on the wall as well as everywhere in between was the theme of the opening of Alice Hope's new show "Tab" at Ricco Maresca
April 8, 2014