Artist Chris Fraser inspired by chain-link fences

Artist Chris Fraser inspired by chain-link fences

Chris Fraser's 2015 sculpture "Mobile | 0, 90, 90 | Argon and Neon" appears in "Chris Fraser:

Animated" through Oct. 31 at Gallery Wendi Norris. Credit: Chris Fraser and Gallery Wendi Norris.

By Kimberly Chun

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Chris Fraser finds material in the everyday. It might be in the aisles of Home Depot, where the Oakland artist is gathering supplies for his next installation, or from Interstate 880 overpasses, which provided the flicker of inspiration for “Animated,” his new exhibition at Gallery Wendi Norris. The patterns created by the layered chain-link overpasses became so compelling they could have been hazardous to the artist’s health.

“I started to notice it everywhere, and I started to think how utterly dangerous it is to have people attuned to it while driving,” says Fraser, 37. “It’s a barrier that doesn’t announce itself, but when you put two sets of like patterns next to each other, they start to have this conversation with you, about how fast you’re moving.”

The speedily shifting patterns that he discovered during his drive led directly to the sculptures in “Animated,” which play with sensory and spatial perception. Layers of perforated metal are book-ended by glass tubes filled with neon, argon and other gases that are charged with electricity and activated by the viewer. The straight lines of light and the shadows they throw are key here and in Fraser’s forthcoming show at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. “Our first experience with imagery is the shadows we create,” he says. “When you can take that shadow and make it instead about the light in the space, you reconsider that whole relationship. If you shift it ever so slightly, that slight change turns everything on its head. You create a space where you can make new connections, and it becomes this habit.”

— Kimberly Chun

Chris Fraser: Animated: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.

Through Oct. 31. Gallery Wendi Norris, 161 Jessie St., S.F.

(415)    346-7812. www.gallerywendinorris.com.