Since the mid-1960s, the works of West Lorne-based sculptor Ed Zelenak have garnered acclaim on regional, national, and international levels. Well-known during the London Regionalist period for his distinctive work in wood and fibreglass, he has continued as a tireless innovator across the ensuing decades.
Divining the Immeasurable is a retrospective look at Zelenak's practice, referencing early, monumental wood sculptures and explorations of fibreglass, which resulted in elegant, volumistic abstractions. After such investigations of form, space, and often, light, Zelenak reduced his scale while broadening his subject matter to universal proportions. Choosing materials deep-rooted in human technological history, such as lead, copper, and bronze, he produced objects that are as equally laden with cultural and spiritual heritage. Sculptures and wallworks dating from the 1970s through 2014 bear evocative forms -- vehicles, vessels, tools such as dowsing rods and ladders, and natural phenomena such as trees and celestial bodies -- represented in a deceptively simple, iconic fashion. Zelenak's motifs can be viewed as archetypes of modern existential feeling, ancient beliefs or messages, references to more recent folklore and myriad other forms of language or knowledge.
A scholarly catalogue for release in June 2015 surveys his work, with emphasis on his recent work, theory and symbolism, and aspects of Zelenak's drawing practice.
This exhibition is generously supported by the Museum London Foundation through its Light on London Campaign.