New York artist Stephen Sollins opens a show of new work at Brian Gross Fine Art on Thursday, March 4, with a reception for the artist from 5:30-7:30pm. In his work, Sollins transforms mundane objects into works of art, exploring ideas of family, memory, communication and non-communication in our daily lives. The artist will be giving a gallery talk on Saturday, March 6, at 2pm.

In his new work, Sollins appropriates and re-contextualizes images of everyday commodities, forcing the viewer to read into the objects and attribute them with new significance. In the sculpture New Thoughts, Sollins presents an electric pencil sharpener cast in bronze. Removed from its usual setting and translated into a traditional artistic medium, the pencil sharpener reflects on the creative process and the marks and traces we leave behind. In other sculptures, the artist fetishizes everyday yet ambiguous objects by embellishing them with gold leaf. Sollins' collages feature images of utilitarian objects, such as office chairs and filing cabinets, affixed to either blueprint paper or foil; isolated within expansive metallic fields and rigid delineated spaces, the small images conjure feelings of loneliness and anonymity.

Sollins' use of precious materials and re-contextualization of everyday objects forces us to reconsider the mundane. His highly conceptual works are alternately stark and impersonal, and seductively beautiful, yet all evoke feelings that are profoundly human.

Stephen Sollins received his M.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts in New York in 1997 and his B.A. from Bard College in 1990. His work has been exhibited in numerous exhibitions in New York, Louisiana, New Mexico and California. Sollins' work is part of the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the Achenbach Foundation of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and the Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. This will be Sollins' sixth solo show at Brian Gross Fine Art.