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Artist Alex Da Corte brings eerie neon to New York City in a show at Karma

C-A-T Spells Murder

Artist Alex Da Corte brings eerie neon to New York City in a show at Karma

Exhibition view of Free Roses, Alex Da Corte's 2016 survey at MASS MoCA. (John Bernardo/Courtesy of Luxembourg & Dayan Gallery, New York)

Artist Alex Da Corte wants you to be scared.

In C-A-T Spells Murder, a new show at New York’s Karma, the Philadelphia-based artist deploys neon sculpture, video, and neon painting to muse on the feeling of fear and its effects on perception.

 


Slow Web, pictured above, uses common building materials like vinyl siding and plywood to foreground a luminous orange neon spider’s web, creating an homage to a classic symbol of creepiness. The web is partially detached from its frame, drifting off to the left. How did it break free? Is there a ghost in the house or was that just a strong, cold breeze?

Another work, Good Window with Candle (Purple), pictured below, uses the same materials as Slow Web, but the shutter-flanked candle beneath an open double-hung window feels more solitary than sinister.

The exhibition, which runs through March 18, is accompanied by a book of short but spooky stories and stories to bring the eerieness out of the gallery and into the world.

Alex Da Corte Slow Web 2018 Neon, vinyl siding, laminate, plywood, epoxy clay, house paint, hardware 72 × 72 × 4 inches

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C-A-T Spells Murder is up through March 18 at Karma’s East Village gallery (188 East 2nd Street). More details on the show and hours of operation can be found here.

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