Sculpture by Louis Brawley at Duck Creek

The Arts Center at Duck Creek presents an exhibition of outdoor sculpture by artist Louis Brawley on the grounds. The exhibition will be on display from July 9 to October 8, with an opening reception and artist talk on Saturday, July 9, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Louis Brawley’s rough-hewn, delightfully waggish wooden sculptures are recent works made from fallen timber the artist collected during and after his pandemic stay in New Jersey, an experience which led him to work outdoors and adapt his practice to the unpredictable nature of his environment. This surrender to the elements is aligned with his creative process and good-humored openness.

“While I’m working there is always that moment when I laugh and that’s a good sign that I’m going in the right direction,” Brawley said. “If something becomes too obvious, it needs to be redirected into the wilderness of possibility.”

Brawley’s sense of amusement and surrender is obvious throughout the works, in both subject and materials. Carved clouds rest squarely atop a twisted pedestal; wobbling “brick” towers support brightly colored human heads, skewed windows, or stacks of bones; and a bifurcated tree limb becomes the perfect pair of pants for Brawley’s “Homage to Picasso.” Each artwork is informed by the wood it is made from, and the way that particular cut of wood asks to be colored.

The imagery and construction of these sculptures speak to the hierarchy of forms from earth to cosmos, a theme that is informed by the artist’s decades’ long study of Indian philosophy and a profound link to both sculptors and painters from Brancusi and Robert Grosvenor to Bonnard and Stanley Whitney.

Louis Brawley (born 1958) holds a BFA in Philosophy from Temple University and an MFA from Hunter College. He worked and showed in New York in the 1990s before meeting Indian philosopher UG Krishnamurti in 2002. Brawley began traveling with Krishnamurti and took care of him during the final five years of his life. Brawley then wrote the book, “Goner,” about the experience. He returned to Brooklyn in 2015 to resume a studio art practice. During the pandemic, he relocated to a friend’s farm in New Jersey, where he began creating the painted wood sculptures featured in this exhibition.

The Arts Center at Duck Creek is at 127 Squaw Road in East Hampton. For further information, visit duckcreekarts.org.