The mostly white table is part of a series where a cast head is set in different relationships to a table. In one, the head rises aloft from a table, in another the head seems to grow out of an almost animated table. In this one, the head, along with several others, lay in a heap beneath the table. It is as if the bust which is traditionally presented in a place of honor on a pedestal has fallen off its special perch, and is langouring with its undifferentiated sculptural chums. I like using colloquialisms in my titles because they are worn with usage and offer multiple interpretations. In Off The Table, On The Skids, perhaps the deal between sculptor and audience to clean up the mess of the imagination is “off the table”, while the ill-fated sculptural motifs are “on the skids” spilling out from their hideaway “under the table”.

While Off The Table, On The Skids is unlikely to be used as a table, the others in the exhibition are meant to be used. They are not sculptures of tables, but have a dual identity as table and sculpture. They are artworks, yes… but these tables are also meant as places to gather; to rest a book, to share ideas. To raise glasses, then set them down while we collectively weep. In my eyes, artworks can create a community, sometimes very small and other times extensive.

Daniel Wiener, a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2012, grew up in Los Angeles but has lived in NYC for thirty-nine years. A professional artist since 1977, Daniel’s first show was at the Stephen Wirtz gallery in San Francisco. In 1982 Daniel was awarded a fellowship for an unusually long stay at Yaddo, which inspired his exodus to the East Coast. Daniel’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in both group and one-person shows, notably at Bravin/Post Lee Gallery in New York and Acme Gallery in LA. Recently, he has been included in numerous shows, including Studio 10 in Bushwick, and the BRIC Biennial in Brooklyn. Daniel had a one-person show titled Wide-eyed & Open-mouthed at Lesley Heller Gallery in 2019. In response to this show, Bomb Magazine published an interview with Daniel and Fawn Krieger called The Space of Intimacy: Daniel Wiener. He is currently working on a series of painting-like bas-reliefs made from self-hardening clay based on a technique he developed at Dieu Donne. Daniel lives and works in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn.

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