Carl Mannov

Although Carl Mannov works with something as conventional as painting and sculpture, he takes an unconventional approach. In his sculptures, he mixes in found objects, everything from parts of couches and shelves to magazines and carved lion’s feet. Mannov also uses his sculptures to investigate the function of their component parts, and sometimes he will retain some of the original furniture’s functionality. These hybrids – part functional sculpture, part non-functional furniture – erase the divide between art and life. The contrast between their bizarre appearance and one-to-one relationship with reality conjures a sense of dreaminess. This condition also characterizes surrealism, an early-twentieth-century movement that was strongly associated with the understanding of psychology as a distinct discipline. Since the objects that Mannov uses may be things we see in daily life, you may experience a closeness that heightens the sense of unreality that may arise when encountering art at an exhibition. SH