Andy Yoder, "Golden Boy" (2009)

Andy Yoder, “Golden Boy” (2009)

Quirky, clever and crafty are words that immediately come to mind when describing the work of Andy Yoder. His brand of conceptual sculpture easily manipulates scale, surfaces and materials to create fetishistic objects that are familiar and alienating.

In his latest solo show titled Man Cave at Winkleman in Chelsea, Yoder continues looking at the banal objects of our culture (a garage door, a bowling pin, hub caps, a lifesaver) but transforms them in ways that seem to comment on our societal need to covet material possessions, no matter how ridiculous. The mink covered lifesaver looks like a piece of heaven hanging on the wall, while the gold-leafed bowling pin resembles an ancient idol from a Midwestern bowling cult. Desire is absurd, he seems to suggest, but so is life.

Man Cave closes October 24 at Winkleman Gallery, 637 West 27th Street, NYC

Hrag Vartanian is editor-in-chief and co-founder of Hyperallergic.