GR FLORA

Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM)

The 5 sculptures in the GR FLORA series shape themselves under force.  What Mendel, the father of genetics, described as “traits” – smooth or wrinkled, short or tall – are here controlled by a limited set of genetic numbers. The intelligence of shaping is moved from the artist-designer to material process and number.

Nearby is an extraordinary installation by Haresh Lalvani of New York. Several large-scale stainless steel sculptures called “GR FLORA” are presented in a careful arrangement on the gallery floor. Each is unique ….. Each “flower” – if you will – is laser cut and then pulled forward from a single piece of stainless steel polished to absolute perfection. Lalvani’s work is both a technical and visual tour-de-force that grew forward from a very solid idea about the environment and its fragility.

Joseph Becherer
Chief Curator, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture
Grand Rapids, Michigan