Josh Sperling’s West Coast Debut At Perrotin

Bold and brash, Josh Sperling’s first West Coast exhibition is like a chromatic wake-up call, forcing viewers to take notice. On the surface, the artist’s swirls, curls and modular shapes hit the eye with playful abandon. But sit with these images and forms long enough and something else surfaces: a deeper appreciation for life’s calculated chaos.

Sperling has built a decade-plus reputation with sculptural work that draws on an eclectic mix of influences—1960s and 70s minimalist design, 1980s Memphis design with its bold, playful, and sometimes clashing aesthetic, and blaring Los Angeles road signage. Sperling also draws on his five-plus years as a graphic designer. But his latest solo show, at Los Angeles’ Perrotin Gallery (appropriately titled “Big Picture”), transforms his delightful forms into something more than eye candy. New functional elements include modular benches done in vivid primary colors. The show runs until July 3.

Sperling’s interest in modularity harks back to a childhood fixation on Legos. Building and reconfiguring forms is irresistible to any young child, but Sperling’s made it the cornerstone of his artistic practice, imbuing his work with a kind of authenticity that recalls boyhood innocence.

The show’s “Composites” series is built of raised curvilinear shapes covered in various textures. At first, they appear chaotic, but the longer one looks, an organized whole appears, with the shapes appearing as if harmoniously choreographed. The works are huge—28 feet across and nearly 12 feet high––so the natural inclination is to view them at a distance. But as one slowly approaches, the forms seem to animate as if triggered by movement.

Furniture As A Sculptural Experience

What’s most refreshing about the Perrotin show is Sperling’s riff on modular furniture, a work he terms “Spectrum Modular Seating.” Seven single seats and six two-person benches are covered in wool manufactured by the Danish firm, Kvadrat. The work would do well in Palm Springs, the mecca of all things mid-century modern. It could also double as the set design for a kicky 1960s sitcom. The Perrotin press agent mentioned that the seating builds on the “legacy of Pierre Paulin’s iconic geometric furniture from the 1960s.” The French designer’s curvy-cushy seating was the subject of a major retrospective at the Centre Georges Pompidou in 2016.

The agent also references Sperling’s signature “bullseye” and “double bubble” motifs, which he employs as intriguing interlocking puzzle pieces. These are user-friendly designs, at once at home in a high-end art gallery as they would be in a high-end furniture showroom.

The show also features a large installation of “amoeba-like mirrors,” with frames built of walnut and ash.

The mirror frames harken to Sperling’s family of artisan woodworkers, an influence that’s also seen in the structural work beneath the modular seating. Earlier influences include MC Escher and Roy Lichtenstein, as well as KAWS (Brian Donnelly) and Keith Haring.

Sperling initially designs his work in black and white, later adding color to augment his vision. “It was a slow journey to get to where I am with my understanding of color,” said Sperling in a 2022 interview. “My first paintings were one color, then two colors, and then 87 colors. I am constantly learning new things about color, it is infinite.”

Sperling, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from SUNY Potsdam, New York, creates from his studio in Ithaca, New York. Major art fairs have featured his creations, including Frieze and Art Basel Miami. Recent solo shows include those at Perrotin galleries in Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai and New York. Public collections include: the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris; Arsenal Contemporary, Montreal, Canada; and Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, China.

Paris-based Perrotin was founded by Emmanuel Perrotin in 1990. Galleries soon followed in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo, London, Dubai, New York and Los Angeles. The Los Angeles gallery is located in the former Del Mar Theater on Pico Boulevard–with the building’s marquee and ticket booth still intact. The theater opened in 1939 with “Blondie” and “You Can’t Take It with You.”