Eva Rothschild

Diamonoid (2009)

In the 1960s, artists on the West Coast made sculptures whose shimmering finishes were as sleek as custom-painted hotrods. Sculptors on the East Coast stuck to less flashy finishes, preferring subdued colors, industrial ruggedness, and simple geometry – often repeated to form the rows, stacks and columns of their serial works. Today, Dublin-born and London-based Eva Rothschild combines characteristics of both types of Minimalism. At once seductive and structurally rigorous, her works are as pleasurable to perceive as they are satisfying to contemplate.

From across the room, Diamonoid (2009) appears to be a basic black diamond. But as soon as a viewer moves in any direction, the illusion of stillness, flatness and smooth uniformity disintegrates. Reflections and shadows dance across the mirror-like surface of the specially treated plastic that forms the diamond-shaped backdrop of Rothschild’s wall relief. Similar reflections race along the numerous aluminum bars that echo the shape of the nearly 10-foot-long monochrome.

The best visual effects, however, take place between the powder-coated bars and the industrial-strength plexiglass, where Rothschild makes it difficult for viewers to distinguish between the shifting geometry of the eccentrically angled bars and their crisp reflections in the ink-black plastic. The impression is that of peering into a deep, dark well, where light does not penetrate and tangible reality seems to open into the void. With understated efficiency, Rothschild suggests that this is where the magic—and the mystery—of art begin.