Images
Ross Iannatti
Hysteresis
26. 6. – 27. 7. 2013
Press Release
Within the gallery, Iannatti presents Hysteresis; a series of multiple wallmounted works of stretched airbags repurposed from abandoned cars. Like a flower that has bloomed and later flattened for preservation or display, the artist analogously showcases the vehicular fabric stretched in a grid. After rapidly inflating with highly toxic nitrogen and sodium azide gases upon collision, the bags hang flaccid from the car’s dashboard. Here Iannatti recovers them from neglected automobiles within a wreckage yard in his native Virginia before sewing them in a patchwork formation. Covered in dirt, oil and sometimes blood, the thick woven nylon is stretched in various sizes and hung on the wall. Through this Iannatti reveals the airbags’ general essence while preserving the terrifying sublimity of a car wreck. This term Hysteresis is a word used in the physics involved in calculating airbag deployment in automobiles. Hysteresis refers to “systems that have memory, where the effects of the current input (or stimulus) to the system are experienced with a certain lag.”
Ross Iannatti (b. 1988, Chesapeake, Virginia) lives and works between Richmond, VA and Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. After graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in sculpture, he continues his studies at Bard College. His most recent exhibitions include a solo show at the F.A.B. Gallery in Richmond as well as groups shows at Open Space in Baltimore and James Fuentes in New York City.
Invited by James Michael Shaeffer, Jr.