Adam Brent’s large-scale sculptural installation, The Ballad of Crook Horn Road, employs the slick language of suburban architecture to explore ideas of domesticity, memory and childhood. Built out of polymer-infused plywood, wire mesh and window panes, the structure references the distinct look of late-1970’s residential design to instill a sense of nostalgia and wistfulness in the work. Functionless platforms and modular appendages are joined together to mimic back decks and home additions, and iconic objects such as houseplants, doilies and braided rag rugs infuse the room with intimacy and familiarity. The sculpture’s location in the light-filled Sun Porch strengthens this sense of interior space, while juxtaposing Brent’s modern sensibility with the grandeur of its surroundings in Glyndor House.

The Ballad of Crook Horn Road includes a sound component that combines re-mixed selections from television theme songs with the miscellaneous noises of everyday life, such as a baby babbling or a door shutting. The result is oddly comforting, yet difficult to place. Although deeply autobiographical, Brent’s work questions the viewer’s own perceptions of home and family, and in this way, speaks to a profoundly universal experience.

Adam Brent’s work has been included in recent group exhibitions at the Gathering of the Tribes, New York, NY; Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY; Artists Space, New York, NY; and the Aljira Center for Contemporary Art, Newark, NJ. He was a 2006 participant in the Emerge Program at Aljira. Brent received his MFA from Parsons School of Design in New York, NY, and his BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD.

Organized by Assistant Curator Leigh Ross, The Sunroom Project Space provides an opportunity for New York’s emerging artists to develop a special project or create a new body of work to exhibit in a solo show. The five artists chosen for the 2008 season were: Jung Eun Park, Joanne Howard, Kim Baranowski, Adam Brent and Tamalyn Miller.

The Ballad of Crook Horn Road, 2008 Colorfin plywood, glass, house plants, woven rug, doilies, construction cloth and audio components 10’9” x 6’6” x 5’10” Courtesy of the artist

The Ballad of Crook Horn Road, 2008 Colorfin plywood, glass, house plants, woven rug, doilies, construction cloth and audio components 10’9” x 6’6” x 5’10” Courtesy of the artist

Public Programs

September 28, 2pm Meet the Artists. Kim Baranowski and Adam Brent discuss their installations in the Sunroom Project Space.
October 4 & 5, 1–4 pm The Family Art Project: Structures with Plants and Rugs. Construct a sculpture from wood, cardboard, recycled materials, soil and growing plants, with guidance from Adam Brent.

The Sunroom Project Space series is supported in part by the Milton & Sally Avery Arts Foundation. Support for the Visual Arts Program is provided by the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, The Greenwall Foundation, Target, the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts–a state agency. Sustaining support for Wave Hill is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Wave Hill is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

The Arts at Wave Hill are sponsored by