Art in review

Luis De Jesus Seminal Projects Gallery is under renovation and San Diego artist Lael Corbin is heading up the project. His exhibition features a floor plan, a wiring diagram, two-by-fours, a dirt pile, a wheelbarrow, a tool belt, a washer and dryer—fabricated out of medium-density fibreboard (MDF)—and a partially installed bathroom, complete with toilet. Why an art gallery that exhibits artists would convert into a living space could be easily lost on viewers.

Corbin’s installation, though, is not meant to be a real home remodelling, yet it’s almost too close to being one. It still may be labelled as art, but only just barely through its association with the gallery. And this may be what saves the work. The familiarity of the materials and objects evokes not only the artist’s childhood (Corbin’s father is in the construction trade), but potentially the viewer’s as well. The smell of sawdust, walking under unfinished stairwells and avoiding the occasional bag of cement on the floor may depress some and inspire others.

So why renovate at all? This is where the similarities between your home remodelling and Corbin’s end. His is cradled in a long tradition of artists who have transformed galleries into habitats. Better known in the ’70s as conceptual art and Earthworks, its purveyors attempted to make ideas into art through photographic or written documentation and an occasional installation, undermining the traditional process of how you create art and where you put it.  

Overall, Corbin’s work may have lost some of the poetic seductiveness found in previous installations. This time, he prefers direct confrontation with the spectator and a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the artistic process. Remodel can be elusive, but the surprises you’ll discover with patience and a keen eye will be heightened by the artist’s use of contrasting materials, textures and color. It defines the maturity of an artist ready for larger horizons and a broader subject matter. The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego would be perfect.


Lael Corbin’s Remodel is on view at Luis De Jesus Seminal Projects, 2040 India St. in Little Italy through July 5.