Exhibition: Jim Hodges: Craig’s closet

June 9, 2023—May 29, 2024

Gallery:


About the Exhibition:

For those of us with the good fortune to have a place to hang our things, a closet is a magical container, a collection of materials, arranged by each of us that at a glance can reveal our values, desires, cares, and even our deepest secrets. Time itself is frozen inside a closet in contrasting meters and timelines, fragmented in things accumulated and arranged in juxtaposed order, stacked and aligned, quickly thrown or casually dropped there to be taken care of later. The scene is set, and the narratives that blossom come alive whenever the doors swing open, giving us a reading, a reminder, an understanding of who we are, where we have been, secrets, and dreams we hold. Boxes concealing our heart’s contours, scribbled messages scratched on folded notes and cards, photos, records, files, all the stuff worth saving for the reason that each thing signifies, all these choices contained in the holding space, the closet.

Craig’s closet was created by Jim Hodges for the New York City AIDS Memorial Park. On view from June 9, 2023—May 29, 2024, it was sited within New York City AIDS Memorial Park, in the shadow of the former St. Vincent’s hospital and proximity to many sites central to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This replica of a domestic bedroom closet in granite with additions of painted bronze invited viewers to forge personal connections between complex histories and individual and collective memories.

Craig’s closet is a continuation of the New York City AIDS Memorial’s public art program, which has included installations and events by Steven Evans, Jean-Michel Othoniel, Jenny Holzer, and others. The sculpture will be on view for one year and is exhibited as a part of NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks program.


About the Artist

Jim Hodges was born in 1957 in Spokane, Washington. Hodges is an artist who addresses issues such as memory, love, and existential struggles through a multifaceted practice that includes photography, screen printing, and sculpture. His use of found materials like rocks and denim, coupled with the adoption of transitory shapes like spiderwebs, speaks of a personal experience that resonates on a collective level filtered through elements available in nature. Mysterious, beautiful, poetic, and conceptually deep, Hodges's work has the rare quality of being simultaneously thought-provoking and visually beautiful. Major public installations by Hodges include ‘I dreamed a world and called it Love’, Grand Central Station, New York (2021), ‘Unearthed’ Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, (2019), and ‘With Liberty and Justice For All’ Aspen Art Museum, Colorado (2015), and his works are included in prominent collections internationally, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Miami Art Museum, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Guggenheim Museum, New York, Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis, Musee National, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France.


Selected Press


Support

Leadership support for Jim Hodges’ Craig’s closet is provided by the Flag Art Foundation; Amy and John Phelan; Jennifer and John Eagle; Gladstone Gallery; and Stephen Friedman Gallery, with major support provided by Ron Pizzuti; and Cindy and Howard Rachofsky, and additional support provided ​​by Anthony and Celeste Meier; Lisa and John Runyon; Nancy and Clint Carlson; Marguerite Hoffman; and UOVO Fine Art Storage.

Craig’s closet is exhibited through NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks program and is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

 

Image Credits: Jim Hodges, Craig's closet, 2023, Granite and bronze, 90 x 57 x 28 1/2 inches (228.6 x 144.8 x 72.4 cm)
Installation view: New York City AIDS Memorial Park; Presented by the New York City AIDS Memorial, June 9, 2023-May 31, 2024
© Jim Hodges, Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery
Photography by Daniel Greer

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