DAVID Henderson @SmackMellon

Despite feeling a slight aversion to Dumbo recently, I am quite happy to have made it to Smack Mellon this past Sunday for the closing of David Henderson: A History of Aviation-Part 2 as well as The Window Series by Shannon Plumb (which will be featured in a separate post). Later that evening, I attended a life drawing class at the studio of Peter Cusack on Jay Street, and it was the perfect opportunity to pop by the gallery.

I hadn’t been to Smack Mellon’s new location since they relocated. David Henderson’s installation, based on the Late Gothic, vaulted ceiling of Bath Abbey, was both a ship sail frozen in a geometric billowing state and a gauzy web. The construction appeared to be light yet dense and was large enough to walk around and step into. The brick and aged wooden beams, a natural element of the gallery space, juxtaposed against the stark white architecturally designed forms also teamed with the view of the converging bridges in Dumbo, couldn’t have been installed better.

David utilizes a 3D computer modeling program before commencing upon the construction. The piece has been made using Styrofoam, fiberglass, carbon fiber and a fabric “skin” that is aircraft grade. The exhibit was on view from March 5th-April 10th and corresponded with Smack Mellon’s Artist Studio Program and the Verge Art Fair.