Tom Friedman – Detritus

New York
September 4–October 18

This fall, we are pleased to present Detritus, an exhibition of new work by Tom Friedman, marking the artist’s first major show in New York in almost 10 years.

Over the course of his nearly-four-decade career, Friedman’s oeuvre has explored materials and the object, photography and drawing, video exhibitions, and public sculptural installations, continuously pushing his work into new terrains.

In his upcoming exhibition, Friedman makes his most drastic leap yet—into the world of traditional painting on canvas. His approach here is consistent with his practice overall—rooted in cycles of entropy, erosion, recycling, and review. The tromp l’oeil compositions in Detritus depict the exhibition’s namesake: garbage scraps from the ground or discarded packaging, all sourced from the artist’s own life. Remarkably, these works register on both macro and micro scales, rendering quotidian objects at once recognizable and foreign.