Patrick Parrish Gallery is pleased to present, Cliff Hang, Cliff Dwell, a solo exhibition of new works by Ian Stell. With his new body of work, Ian Stell concerns himself with amplifying the human aspiration and fear that echoes through the essential structures with which we surround ourselves.

Stell uses a broad spectrum materials and techniques—including heavy-gauge structural steel and delicately etched aluminum plate—to generate objects that merge, conflate and shift between established typologies. Frequently there are kinetic elements within the work that reveal a narrative of transmutation, slipping from one autonomous state or identity to another. Or, in his own words: "A knock on the door? A lock on the door? On which side? I was trying to find the lock and then I realized it wasn’t a door, or it wasn’t only a door. This man’s throne is another’s cage. With Icarus’s aspiration, unbridled audacity and untethered trust. Is that a portable portcullis?"

Ian Stell was born and raised in New York City, and attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA - Sculpture and Painting, 1992) and the Rhode Island School of Design (MFA - Furniture Design, 2012). Stell’s projects span furniture, lighting, accessories, interiors, sculpture, installation, and beyond.