Gabrielse sculpture at Kass/Meridian

Peter Gabriëlse (b. 1937), worked for thirty years as a set designer for the theatre and especially for television. During the later years of this career he started to create his first box-sculptures of architectural interiors in which he expressed his predilection for old materials and structures marked by time. These model “stage sets” have an interior depth of about 10 cm and like a stage set have props and are lighted from above.
The artist creates a tension by introducing tiny elements which appear life size in relationship to the “set,” for example a label, an old key, a chair or table or a shelf of books. The use of old metal found or antique objects and hand-made elements of old wood give the sculptures themselves a look of an antique or time-worn scene. Further these box-sculptures appeal to the imagination of the spectator by casting lighting from above on the elements that are presented in the interior setting.
Peter Gabrielse currently resides at a chateau in Normandy.