Ron Van Der Ende – bare bones

Rotterdam’s Ron Van Der Ende builds from salvaged wood. He paints nothing. He specializes in festishized tableaus, objects that serve as emblems of historic import.

His partial block of shotgun houses from New Orleans’ Ninth Ward floats
on the wall, the white of the wall serving as the water that carried
them away.

As Ben told his younger brother Willy, the woods are burning.

Detail:

The only other artist who makes such an exuberant overuse of tiny nails is Tony Berlant. Berlant uses his as punctuation. They complete the already completed. Van Der Ende’s underscore the futility of literal reproduction. From fragments that have outlived their original use he creates another use entirely. His sculptures float, like spirits. No matter how lumbering their presence, they are almost not there, frozen in the act of erasing themselves.

To May 2 at Ambach & Rice.