Downsized: Small Scale Sculpture by Contemporary Artists

Exhibition Website

Nov 3 2018 - Jan 27 2019

Bruce Museum

Greenwich, CT

With a focus on interior and exterior architecture, the diminutive works assembled in this exhibition explore history, memory, and fantasy.  Featured artists are Alan Wolfson, Richard Haas, and Matthew Simmonds.  A miniatures show has been a biennial Bruce Museum tradition for over thirty-five years—come take a peek

From the time we are assigned the shoebox diorama school project, our perception of reality becomes momentarily suspended when we view a tiny tableau.  In an age of virtual reality and digital manipulation of photographs and videos, these sculptures fascinate because of the juxtaposition of size and subject.

The miniatures, models and dioramas evoke emotion and reflection about places and moments held in our hearts and minds.  Driven by a narrative, the artists assembled in this exhibition explore memories – whether of ubiety or events – and metaphors for life experience such as isolation and the human condition. At this diminutive scale, the viewer is encouraged to take a closer look at the object and let their imaginations frame the story.

Linked by a focus on interior and exterior architecture, some works contemplate the structure itself, its place in history as a monument to architectural creativity, others mourn the loss of a bygone era whether it is the building itself or the lingering presence of past inhabitants. And some take to flights of fancy, creating imaginative worlds that could only exist in miniature. Many artists choose not to include figures in their work finding that they distract from the narrative they wish the viewer to create for themselves.  For others, the figures are the characters in the story and we are invited to invent what transpired prior to our encounter or what will happen next.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.

  • Various Media
  • Contemporary
  • Various artists

Exhibition Venues & Dates