Al Freeman, “Advil on Spa Tile” (2024) vinyl on vinyl, 65 x 65 x 5 inches (credit)

“Structurally, Freeman emerges from a sculpture tradition that includes the obvious referent of Claes Oldenburg, but is perhaps better understood in a lineage of Sturtevant’s remakes of that artist’s early soft sculpture. A general tenor of negativity and slightly malicious irony pervades Freeman’s work, one that is unconcerned with supposedly proprietary methodology, and moves beyond pastiche into territory that is unencumbered by the welter of influence.

A more telling inspiration for the show’s mood is Wallace Stevens’ “Domination of Black” from 1916. The poem weaves a spell of creeping dread against quotidian details, emphasizing the false-safety of hearth and home against the onslaught of outside forces, natural and manmade.

At night, by the fire,
 The colors of the bushes
 And of the fallen leaves,
 Repeating themselves,
 Turned in the room,
 Like the leaves themselves
 Turning in the wind.
 Yes: but the color of the heavy hemlocks
 Came striding.” (credit)