Claudia Weber

Sunroom Project Space 2011
Sunroom Project Space | May 14 – June 19, 2011

Informed by theories of materiality and objecthood, Claudia Weber’s work investigates the symbolic meanings that become embedded in architecture through societal value systems. In her Sunroom Project, Weber explores transitions between the interior of Glyndor House and the surrounding landscape while she considers the property’s contextual shift from privileged domicile to public garden and cultural institution. Weber’s project, which she developed during Wave Hill's 2011 Winter Workspace Program, takes its title from the name of the Victorian-style villa that originally stood on the site of the current Glyndor House. Nonesuch was built in the 1860s by Oliver Harriman, a New York financier, and its name connotes its peerless presence and ideal setting. However, the word could also imply “no such thing,” thus evoking the realm of the imaginary and fantastical.

Weber uses a mixed-media, site-specific approach to address the transformation of living, botanical matter into a wide spectrum of architectural and cultural representations, reaching from the idealized and exclusive, to the pragmatic and mundane. At the center of the Sunroom is a sculptural assemblage consisting of various materials, including glass, wood, paper and paint. The transparent layers of the sculpture both frame and integrate the objects while heightening awareness of the substance of the building’s interior and its surrounding gardens. On the north wall of the Sunroom is an enlarged photograph of a collection of materials that features a multi-colored set of architectural samples in the form of the acanthus leaf. This imported plant is present amongst the foliage in the Wave Hill grounds, while architectural elements inspired by the form of its leaves can be found inside Glyndor House. The acanthus leaf has been a mainstay in architectural decoration since it was used by the ancient Greeks on the capitals of columns from the Corinthian order, and through its prevalence has become both paradigmatic and abstracted to the point where the original source, the living plant, can itself be considered a “nonesuch.”

Weber received her MFA from the University of Fine and Applied Arts in Offenbach, Germany, where she studied painting and new media art. In 2009–10, she participated in the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Workspace Residency Program. She has had solo exhibitions in Berlin, Frankfurt and Vienna, as well as at Momenta Art in New York. In September she will be featured in a solo exhibition at Vox Populi, Philadelphia. Her work has been included in recent group shows at White Columns, New York; Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York; Croxhapox, Ghent, Belgium, and the Contemporary Art Center, Bretigny, France. Visit Claudia Weber’s website to learn more about her work.

The following images are installation views and details of Claudia Weber’s Nonesuch, 2011; marble, 3 sheets of glass partly painted, wood, wooden chair, cotton tote bag, plaster powder, brass, metal, paper, screen, brush. All photos are courtesy of the artist, except the first photo, which is by Joshua Bright.

Winter Workspace Program 2011
Glyndor Gallery | January 4 – February 13, 2011

Claudia Weber is interested in contextual shifts in architecture and interiors, merging photo documentation with abstraction and flat imagery with sculptural form to create site-specific installations. At Wave Hill, she is researching the Georgian Revival style and exploring the transformation of natural elements into architectural abstractions seen throughout Glyndor House. Born in Aschaffenburg, Germany, Weber is a graduate of the University of Fine and Applied Arts in Offenbach, where she studied painting and new media art. In 2009-10, she participated in the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Workspace Residency Program and was Visiting Artist in New York University’s Department of Art. She has had solo exhibitions in Berlin, Frankfurt and Vienna, as well as at Momenta Art in New York. Her work has been included in recent group shows at White Columns, New York; Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York; and the Contemporary Art Center, Bretigny, France. 

I Prefer To, 2010
Installation view
Raw and painted wood, board, aluminum, archival print, tape

Higher Ground, 2010
Installation view
Mixed media, dimensions variable