Sydney Blum demonstrates a deft touch for composition in addition to a talent for combining a wonderful mix between color and contrast in this work.  The larger pieces in the show are wall construction sculptures which are accompanied by smaller versions as works on paper.  For example, Flyaway #7 and DR 3387 use the same basic components that includes sharing some forms and colors. This ties the two together to establish a strong relationship.  From there the differences take off: the large wall construction makes excellent use of the limited 3 dimensional space including the incorporation of light and shadow.  In contrast to their size and domination of the wall they possess a curious delicacy, a sense that these pieces of painted paper are suspended (for how long?) in a swirl of wind and could change or be gone in the next second.  By contrast the smaller pieces on paper capture some of the same quality but feel more substantial for having been glue downed, captured as it were.  Because of this the  illusion of motion has a very different feel.

Each work in this show is similarly presented - a large 3D piece is coupled with a smaller 2D companion piece.  As indicated earlier, Blum has a very deft touch and he garners significant variation between these pieces. But given the level of proficiency and expertise in working with this concept and

Sydney Blum, Flyaway #9, 2007, Paper chipboard, wire, rubber, paint, pencil, 106 x 147 x 16 inches

Sydney Blum, Flyaway #7, 2007, Paper chipboard, wire, rubber, paint, pencil, 107.5 x 120 x 20 inches

Sydney Blum, DR 3387, 2007, Mixed Materials, 28.5 x 36 inches

the materials it may be that the artist needs to move beyond this comfort zone with his next body of work.  In other words, I like this work; it’s inventive, beautiful and superbly composed.   But having achieved all this I’d like to see where Blum goes next and hopefully it will be somewhere less comfortable, edgier and a bit more unbalanced.