John Neff
Travels between the First and Third Dimensions
September 25 to October 30th, 2004
Travels between the First and Third Dimensions at Western Exhibitions is John Neff's first Chicago solo show since relocating to the Bay Area in 2003, and his first solo show with Western Exhibitions.
Neff will be showing reliefs, flat panels on the horizontal or the vertical axis, that twist into three-dimensions. The panels are ceramic tile mosaics and/or metalworks in brass, lead, and steel. Most incorporate pre-made decorative objects like tiles, vases, and small representational sculptures. Many of the panels have a nominal function: table, fan, heater, doorbell, ashtray, decoration. These panels reflect a subtle shift from the concerns of the works on paper presented in Neff's last solo show at Chicago's Suitable Gallery in 2002. Small-scale paper collages, those pieces dealt with private, cloistered worlds. The relief panels are more outward-looking, and refer — sometimes blatantly and sometimes obliquely — to current events and to Neff's day-to-day life with his co-workers and sister (a mosaicist).
John Neff (b.1975) lives and works in Oakland, California. In Fall 2003, Neff's "We Are All Sinners" poster was distributed by Post-Chicago and his "We Are All Sinners" billboard was subsequently displayed by the Roof, an alternative space in Chicago. That summer Neff curated "Hysterical Pastoral" at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art in Chicago. Five of his collages and one photograph from a 2002 show at Chicago's Suitable gallery were acquired by the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. Recent exhibitions include "Here and Now" at the Chicago Cultural Center, "Accidental Sublime" at The Bower, San Antonio, Texas, "Tasty Dog", Atelier Top 25, Krems, Austria, and at the Stray Show in Chicago in 2004 with Western Exhibitions. Neff received a MFA from the University of Illinois-Chicago in 2001.
Interview with John about this show is available here
Installation shots (click on image)
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Individual works
 Scurvy |
 Optimism |
 The Deep |
 Turbulence |
 Snapshot of the Richmond, California Shoreline |
 Marley's Warning |
 Old Books |
 Diary with Type |
 Angel: Fountain |
 To Gwen "Eddie" Araujo |
 Street Corner Memorial |
 Fresh Graves |
 Small Throne |
 Oil Spill |
 Sea Shanty |
 Living Room, East Oakland |
 The Tumor |
 Anthor Tile (Geometric) |
 Anthor Tile (Organic) |
 Improvisation |
 Anthor Tile (surrounded by Kristin Allen) |
 Anthor Tile (surrounded byLaurel True) |
 Anthor Tile (surrounded by Lucinda Walker) |
 Fault Line |
 Cracked Skull |