Created during quarantine but using faces and feet crafted 20 years ago, Sharif Bey’s small but forceful Boilermaker sculptures layer references to the artist’s personal history as a maker and art history. Formed from a vessel fired with nails and shards to resemble a nkisi nkondi power figure, ‘Boilermaker: Fidel’ references a working-class beer cocktail and Bey’s father’s job as a Pittsburgh boilermaker. The artist identifies the central focus of his work as an investigation of how power manifests; his hybrid sculptures encourage complex understandings of power and influence. (On view at Albertz Benda Gallery in Chelsea through March 27th. Masks and social distancing required).
