Jessica Silverman Presents Vincent Pocsik: 'Bodies Chant Electric'

Various works by Vincent Pocsik

San Francisco, CA — Jessica Silverman is pleased to announce Vincent Pocsik: Bodies Chant Electric, the gallery’s first presentation in the 1932 Twin Peaks home of gallery founder Jessica Silverman and writer Sarah Thornton. Their hacienda in the hills was built with an arcade space that the architect labeled “the gallery” on the original plans.

Vincent Pocsik is a Los Angeles-based artist, best known for his witty work in carved wood.  For “Bodies Chant Electric,” he has created six new anthropomorphic sculptures that are also fully functional free-standing lamps. Each work is a solo figure with long legs, a convoluted torso, and a lampshade for a head. Beautifully crafted and puzzlingly surreal, the illuminating sculptures are thinkers, charged with intellectual and emotional energy. They are also calm, composed interrogations of the body. They evoke relaxation after a hard day’s work and the feeling of being at home.

An architect by training, Pocsik’s artistic process starts by sketching a prospective piece free-hand from many perspectives with a pencil on paper. He then uses animation software and 3D tools to create the form in what for him is a “personal space.” After that, he refines the shape using other 3D digital tools. The wooden components of the sculpture are then rough-cut with a CNC Router and glued together. Finally, Pocsik hand carves and sands the work to perfect the form.

Sculpture by Vincent Pocsik

Pocsik grew up in a household with a love of wood. His father, a “jack of all trades,” subscribed to WoodenBoat magazine, which Pocsik describes as the source of his early aesthetic education. For his current works, the artist uses a range of woods indigenous to North America – black walnut, cherry, and white oak. He appreciates their density and resistance, shades and grains.

Also in the exhibition are two smaller works from the artist’s “Plant Life” series in which flowers with eyes grow out of boots or are held in hands. Sunflowers often appear in this body of work. Pocsik sees them as “spiritual aliens waving in the wind” and “hardy flowers that grow anywhere and provide nourishing seeds,” much like trees.

Drawing inspiration from artists as varied as Hans Bellmer and Martin Puryear, architects like Greg Lynn and Zaha Hadid, and design teams such as Francois-Xavier and Claude Lalanne, Pocsik bridges the disciplines of art and design. With this playful exhibition, he creates a harmonious meeting of plant and animal, and the rooted and the fantastic.