From Brancusi, to Arp, to Bourgeoise, to Puryear, a central trait of twentieth century sculpture is its attempt to resolve the tension between organic and industrial form. Over the past three decades, French sculptor Toni Grand has fused minimal and organic forms on terms of the organic and technological ready-made. Alongside a stunning body of nature-based abstract forms, using wood and other organic materials, Grand produced work consisting of open, primary, geometric shapes (fiber-glass drums, empty aluminum frames, triangular saw-horses) that incorporated resine-dipped eels. A shocking and striking counterpoint to these industrially produced forms, the stiffened eels serve as a ready-made unit of measure, determining the overall dimensions of a given work. In his most recent work, Grand continues his investigation into nature/culture debates, shifting his focus from the amphibian to the technological ready-made.

The Society's exhibition which is Grand's United States museum debut, will be a site specific installation whose two central components - large, tangled volumes made with hundreds of irregular, hand-crafted, wooden loops - are juxtaposed against a laser beam projected across the gallery and a hydraulic lift used to assemble on of the main components. Grand's exhibition will be accompanied by two events a concert and a poetry reading. The concert will feature the music of the recently deceased French composer Gerard Grisé, whose approach to composition was profoundly influenced by Cage and the New York school but whose sound-vocabulary was based exclusively in nature. The performance will be by Ensemble Noamnesia and will feature two guest soloists, violinist Vincent Royé ( who studied with Grise) and pianist Paulo Alvarez. The reading will be by Diane Ward, author of several volumes of poetry including Human Ceiling, Theory of Emotion and Never Without One.