Steve Keister’s graphically bold mixed media creations at Derek Eller Gallery came about with the discovery that Styrofoam and cardboard packaging often come in shapes recalling Mesoamerican design. Using some of these pre-formed shapes as casts, Keister developed plaster molds that would allow him to make sculpture in ceramic slip. In combination with flat and heavily geometric paintings, the sculptural face seen here in ‘Contrapposto’ is a cultural hybrid, blending influences from Latin American design, western art and Modernism. (On view in Tribeca through Aug 22nd.)
