Charles Harlan

The Gate
Karma, New York, US


June 16 - July 13, 2013
installation view, The Gate, Karma, New York

If your house were to fall down, what would be left? The sheetrock will turn to dust. The wood oors will rot. Metal studs will rust away, and your pipes will be scavenged for scrap. But the marble countertop in your bathroom will last forever, remaining intact for centuries wedged within the strata, as an inexplicable witness to your former home.

Near the River Boyne in Ireland is Newgrange, a neolithic temple distinct for its entrance. The doorway is anked by two stone pillars topped with a lintel. Above the lintel is a roof box—a window-like opening over the door. Every year on the winter solstice the rays of the rising sun stream through the portal, illuminating a small altar hidden deep within the mound.

Separated by 35 miles and 5,000 years in the Merrion Square area of Dublin are the city’s famous Georgian doors. Typical of the architecture of that period, the doors are brightly painted, anked by two pillars, and topped with a lintel. Above each doorway is a fanlight window, depicting the rays of the rising sun.

Presented in this exhibition are sculptures existing somewhere between altars and bathroomsinks.

installation view, The Gate, Karma, New York
Roll Gate, 2013
steel, paint
150 x 120 in
381 x 305 cm
Gravel, 2013
gravel
dimensions variable
Rebar, 2013
concrete, steel
66 x 8.5 x 8.5 in
167.5 x 21.5 x 21.5 cm
installation view, The Gate, Karma, New York
installation view, The Gate, Karma, New York
Pallets, 2013
wood, brick, cement block, steel
37.5 x 32 x 43 in
95.5 x 81 x 109 cm
Counter, 2013
granite
22 x 51 x 1 in
56 x 129.5 x 2.5 cm
installation view, The Gate, Karma, New York
Remesh, 2012
concrete, steel
87 x 47 x 8.5 in
221 x 119.5 x 21.5 cm
installation view, The Gate, Karma, New York
Fence, 2013
chain link fence, vinyl slats
260 x 49 in
660.5 x 124.5 cm
installation view, The Gate, Karma, New York
Counter, 2013
granite
22 x 33 x 1 in each
56 x 84 x 2.5 cm each
Counter, 2013
28 x 17.5 x 1 in
71 x 44.5 x 2.5 cm
installation view, The Gate, Karma, New York
Counter, 2013
marble
31 x 29.5 x 1 in
78.5 x 75 x 2.5 cm