Alix Pearlstein

We Shall Run (land animals, composition) 

@ Nada House

Governor's Island, May -August, 2021



Catbox Contemporary is proud to present a selection of new sculptures by artist, Alix Pearlstein. The installation, titled, We Shall Run (large land animals, composition), 2021, is comprised of nineteen animal-objects, and remnants of a cat-tree.

Arranged by typological groupings between two platforms, the black stoneware sculptures (part of an ongoing series), resemble bulls, dinosaurs and hybrid beasts. Together, they encompass a personal etymology of shape, texture and type.

The work takes its name from Yvonne Rainer’s 1963 dance, which employed her use of ‘herds’ as a repeated configuration. A long-time reference for Pearlstein, the phrase We Shall Run, a kind of rallying cry, conveys a defiant optimism. Here, it proposes an intention and action for these stationary figures - the presumptive ‘we’ an opportunity to identify.

In keeping with Catbox Contemporary’s tradition, Pearlstein responds to the cat-tree structure by isolating its essential components – a square and a rectangle covered in gray faux-fur – as an analogous geometric arrangement. Placed on the wall facing the sculptures, the plushy-suprematist composition bookends the installation.

Passage of time is evident everywhere at NADA House. The peeling plaster, chipped paint and exposed lath show the deterioration and history of the site on Governors Island, offering a loaded setting for these works. Pearlstein’s sculptures engage freely with new forms, while evoking an imagined prehistory.