Tom. Friedman has created an alien environment made entirely with aluminum foil that consists of hundred of precisely sculpted objects
that are arranged into ten discrete pieces. This amazing assemblage is presided over by a jovial Aluminum Foil King, resplendent with a crown floating above his enormous, grinning head topped with cardboard tubes from aluminum foil rolls. The King is displayed in front of a wide curtain of many aluminum foil shapes that flutter and move, and resembles an orbiting asteroid belt.
Friedman elaborates on this celestial shower with Aluminum Foil Thing, an oval grouping of numerous ordinary and surprising things that are suspended from the ceiling and encircled by a model car-racing track on the floor. Located nearby is a humanoid form engaged in an Aluminum Foil Birth and, displayed in a glass case, the remains of an Aluminum Foil Alien Autopsy.
Friedman has used a wide variety of materials, including paper,
styrofoam, paint, spaghetti, eraser shavings, and yam, and his choice of aluminum foil for the Lever House project was inspired by the building itself—reflective glass and aluminum. The artist explains his method: "1 identified for myself four basic elements: the material I would choose, the process of altering the material, the form that it would take, and its presentation. I found that there would be an element of logic that would connect them."
Torn Friedman v:as born in St. Louis, Missouri, 1965, and studied at Washington Unii;ersity, St. Louis (BFA), and The University of Illinois, Chicago (MFA). His work has been exhibited extensively in museums and galleries throughout the world, including Fondazione Prada, Milan; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; New Museum of Contemporary Art; New York; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago; Feature Inc., New York; and Gagosian Gallery, New York and Los Angeles. Tom Friedman lives and works in Leverett, Massachusetts.
RICHARD D. MARSHALL, Curator
TOM FRIEDMAN
ALUMINUM FOIL, 2007
Aluminum Foil Alien Autopsy Aluminum Foil Backdrop Aluminum Foil Birth
Aluminum Foil Boxes Aluminum Foil Buddha Aluminum Foil Circle Aluminum Foil King
Aluminum Foil Thing
Aluminum Foil Tower Aluminum Foil Tower Il
Numerous objects made entirely with aluminum foil,
overall dimensions variable
THE LEVER HOUSE ART COLLECTION, NEW. YORK