Sculpture Space NYC-Center for Ceramic Arts is pleased to present the work of two sculptors, Raphael Lyon and Bill Schuck in a two person exhibition of time based works.
Raphael Lyon and Bill Schuck - A Two Person Exhibition
Sculpture Space NYC-Center for Ceramic Arts
February 14 – March 15, 2025
Opening Reception: Friday, February 14
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Sculpture Space NYC-Center for Ceramic Art is pleased to present the work of two sculptors, Raphael Lyon and Bill Schuck in a two person exhibition of time based works.
Both artists enlist time and process to create works that are the result of slow accretions created by using industrial pumps, timers, chemical baths and electrical fields to create objects that are the result of natural forces. They set systems in motion that will run automatically and the results, often unexpected, reflect natural/chemical processes, rather than the hand of the artist.
Raphael Lyon (born, Albuquerque, New Mexico), is an established sound designer, musician, and installation artist working around the world. His work focuses on the conceptual design of living systems and fractal structures to create an artistic practice built on wonder and magic. The sculptures presented in this exhibition are grown through the use of electrochemical deposition and controlled electricity, commonly known as electroforming, in which copper atoms are collected in three-dimensional space using electric fields, atom by atom creating a kind of high-speed geology. It is a technique that was of interest to the early alchemists, who saw vegetative mineral forms as a key to understanding how the earth reproduces and sustains living forms. With these playful-looking works, Lyon addresses significant themes of our time such as geology, ecology, biotic environmental factors, micro-waste, and recycling – and at the same time also the still great, fascinating mysteries of nature.
As “Mudboy,” Lyon performed internationally with his music and performances, releasing over twenty albums under various labels. Lyon, who holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University, and a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University, presents his artwork, films, music, and lectures primarily at festivals and art and cultural institutions, including the New Museum, New York, the Artists Institute, New York as well as the Goethe Institute, New York, at the International Symposium of Electronic Music (ISEA) in Dortmund, Germany, the Sight and Sound Festival, in Montreal, Canada, the International Computer Music Conference, New York and at Mediamatic in Amsterdam. He has been the recipient of various grants and arts funding, including the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, New York, and multiple fellowships from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts. Lyon also has been an artist in residence at the Bas Fisher Invitational, Miami FL and the Ernst Fischer artist residence, Birkholz, Brandenburg, Germany. Lyon currently maintains a studio in Brooklyn, New York.
Bill Schuck was born just outside of New York City and began his creative life working in
ceramics, eventually receiving a Bachelor’s degree in ceramics from SUNY Buffalo.
After working exclusively in clay for over a decade, a move to Brooklyn opened him to working in other mediums. His practice now is multidisciplinary, manipulating a variety of materials towards unpredictable results. He received an MFA in sculpture from Queens College. In 2005 he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to explore the geologic processes that slowly hollow out stone to form the vast network of caves in Slovenia. These caving expeditions led directly to his current work using industrial pumps and liquids to output work that slowly aggregates; resulting in objects that are more a product of natural forces than his own aspirations and expectations. He has received grants from the Pollack-Krasner Foundation, the Joan Mitchell Foundation and New York Foundation for the Arts. Schuck shows in and around New York, most recently at the Hammond Museum, Salem, NY, at Long Island University, Brooklyn, N.Y. and Catskill Art Space, Livingston Manor NY. He splits his time between Greenpoint, Brooklyn and Dutchess County, NY where he maintains studios in both locations.
Bill Schuck states “My own hands have very little to do with the final form of my pieces, instead my work follows its own course to completion through mechanical automation. Using industrial pumps and electronic switches, my apparatus dispenses fluids, some additive like ink and some corrosive like bleach or vinegar. Running 24 hours a day for months and sometimes years, the process slowly records an image which remains as a visual record of this repetitive process. The actions of these machines slowly carry the work further away from the beginnings that I set into motion. As the machines run, this automatic process slowly erases my initial conception, leaving me more an observer and steward of this process then its sole author.”
Sculpture Space NYC - Center for Ceramic Arts is a non-profit 501(3) (C) dedicated to promoting contemporary visual art focusing on the research and exploration of three -dimensional work with an emphasis towards ceramics. SSNYC-CCA‘s mission is to stimulate creativity, new ideas and collaboration in ceramics-based investigations. Artists, designers and craftspeople of all backgrounds converge in this center to experiment, learn, make, reflect and grow artistically.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday: 2pm-8pm
Location: we are located at 47-21 35th Street, Long Island City NY 11101, near the 33rd Street/ Rawson Street stop on the 7 train.