As you enter Leon gallery, you are welcomed by an umbrella made out of condoms. It immediately surprises and makes you want to see more.
The machine gun made out of broken glass is one of the most stunning pieces. From the distance it gives you the impression that is a real machine gun. When you look closer, Slegg created a texture only with colored and different layers of glass, that is reflecting the real image perfectly. Glass, as everyday purposeful material shattered and used in this context, leaves the viewer with the uncomfortable contrast of violence versus nonviolence, reminding us of the fragility (glass) of a life. This invisible thread of playing with ambiguous meaning ties all the pieces of the show together.
The “Plastic Forks” in a suitcase which are mimicking the movement of grass shown in the video above, is not immediately obvious. The observer is gently forced with lightness and humor to be there and focus, to grasp the intention of the piece.
In another series of small sculptures Slegg used horse tack and covered it literally with tacks. They draw you in magnetically with their mesmerizing sparkle and you forget that they are made out of spiky tacks.
The way that Steve questions social standards, immoral motives that are lead by greed and then transforms them into sculptures are conceptually razor sharp, keen and witty. His processes are time consuming and sometimes stretch over several years in order to bring a piece of art from a faint idea to its courageous visual realization.
His work is humorous, sincere, bold, beautiful, authentic and always a surprise. If you have not seen Slegg’s work in person, this is your chance to feast your eyes and spirit.
Sabin Aell