Lukas Geronimas

Parker Gallery is proud to present Ordinal Reject, its third solo exhibition with Lukas Geronimas.

At the entrance to the gallery, visitors are greeted with a takeaway card that reads: "That we are capable only of being what we are remains our unforgivable sin." The text is from The Claw of the Conciliator, the second volume in American writer Gene Wolfe's four-part science fiction series, The Book of the New Sun. With this phrase in mind, the works in the exhibition begin to take shape, creating an aura of foreboding, mystery, and intrigue.

Within the gallery, Geronimas has installed nineteen wall mounted sculptures around the perimeter of the room, surrounding the exposed ceiling beams and adjoining joists original to the gallery's 1947 building. Conceived in response to the architectural hardware, his new series of Custom Joist Hanger Cover and Lures are detailed in their ornamentation and decidedly handmade, belying traditional function and mass utility. Each sculpture is composed of three elements: a u-shaped form with a deep void, an iron chain, and a lure, all methodically assembled into evocative compositions using natural and found materials. In Geronimas' installation, the lures hung at human height become a glittering, alluring and menacing attraction; made from studio scraps and a personal collection of detritus, the artist transforms them into dangling, beguiling treasures.

In the center of the gallery, eight figurative sculptures are set atop two large scale custom plinths. As with his Custom Joist Hanger Cover and Lures, the sculptures have Lithuanian titles, a nod to the artist's heritage. Based on statuary and idolatry, these hybrid figures both summon and question objects of devotion. Formed from a wood skeleton built up with foam and cement, these works are finished with visible traces of the artist's hand. The pieces reference fertility idols, Medieval regalia, Hindu, Shinto and early Greek and Egyptian statuary, the Janus, and the Celtic trifrons, forming an inimitable chaotic hybrid. With a slightly hunchback form, Rinkėjas is caught in mid step, arms bent at the elbow in an ambiguous gesture of combat or defense. In Garvežys, two bodies are fused at the back, one appearing to lift the other over their shoulders in a comically futile attempt. Another sculpture, Dykūnas, is outfitted in a robe, head bent in a pose of quiet prayer or reflection. Geronimas's equally enigmatic and familiar sculptures occupy a distinct alter reality, having undergone a multi-step process of manipulation and revision, questioning what is truly knowable.

Lukas Geronimas (b. 1980 in Toronto, Canada, lives and works in Massachusetts and New York). Select solo exhibitions include Variety Garden, David Petersen, Minneapolis, MN (2023); Parker Gallery, Los Angeles (2022); Lukas Geronimas, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2021); Swallow Your World, Parker Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2018); Seminal Echo, 247365, New York, NY (2016); Lukas Geronimas LIVE from the Landing, the Landing, Los Angeles, CA (2016); and Geatest Show on Rearth, David Petersen, Minneapolis, MN (2015). Select group exhibitions include Material Instinct, Post Times, New York, NY (2025); A Study in Form (Chapter Two), curated by Arden Wohl, James Fuentes, New York, NY (2024); Roundabout Walkabout, Gene's Dispensary, Los Angeles, CA (2024); Marley Freeman and Lukas Geronimas: Miniatures, Karma Bookstore, New York, NY (2023); and Wishing Well, Parker Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2023). His work is included in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.