Will Squibb

June 30 - August 2, 2021

Chekhov’s Gun marks Will Squibb’s first solo exhibition of his multidisciplinary study of the common but highly charged object: the gun.  His flat works transform the individual parts of a firearm into a fluid, somewhat surreal composition. The three-dimensional, realistic, ceramic guns have been dropped, bent, and twisted into less menacing, organic objects.

Squibb describes the project in the following way, “The flat works came first.  I was searching for imagery that could support repeated use, provide a variety of subtypes, as well as imply architectural rigidity.  I landed on a gun, the vast range of guns, and all of their components. After establishing formal parameters I considered the inherently contentious and political implications of firearms.  I asked myself, ‘How much would I need to manipulate this object to create a new meaning and reaction?’  The first flat works were formed with a unified idea of gravity - an implied sense of sculptural viability, albeit precarious and haphazard. Over time they evolved into organic forms and increasingly dynamic ecosystems.  I wanted to approach the same object in three dimensions, using ceramic splicasting as a reiterative process rather than dismantling and redistributing a limited palette.  By becoming tactile will they be perceived as more politically charged?  With the flat works it takes a moment to realize what is happening within the composition.  The “guns”, less deconstructed and more animated, provoke a faster reaction it seems.” 

Squibb considers Chekhov's Gun to be critical in scope, however he wants it to be clear that it is not intended to be a critique of gun ownership itself.  “I hope no one seeing the work feels alienated,” he says as he opens up the conversation to feedback from the viewer.  “I am looking forward to hearing all reactions.  All points of view.”

Squibb wants to know how people perceive these images and objects.  Viewers are invited to record their thoughts (anonymously) via “comment card” at Window On Hudson or with an online form found here.

Will Squibb was born in 1986 in Cape Cod, Ma. He graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2008 and has maintained a dedicated studio practice since then in New York City.  He has participated in group shows in NYC and Austin, TX.  He currently lives and works in the Hudson Valley.  His projects oscillate between a range of mediums and modes including video, collage, sculpture, drawing and photography.