See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.
By Eli Rosenberg
Brooklyn Daily
Loew’s — for all your home improvement needs, and your next art installation.
Artist TJ Volonis has gained acclaim for himself making intricate sculptures that look like wall tapestries, made of copper pipes — the type that you can buy at the hardware store across the street.
“Even though it’s a metal, it’s still very warm in terms of tone and properties; it’s a big conductor of heat and electricity,” said Volonis, who gets his pipes from the Lowe’s on Second Avenue across the street from his studio.
Volonis, a self-taught artist who’s been making his patterned copper pieces for the last seven years in Brooklyn, constructs his art by combining copper pipes that he cuts to size with copper joints and soldering them all together to create elaborate geometric shapes that look like a cross between a maze and an Etch A Sketch drawing.
Volonis lives in Park Slope and constructs his pieces out of a Gowanus metal workshop he uses for free.
He said his creations sell for around $5,000 to $6,000.
“Brooklyn has definitely been an amazing incubator,” said Volonis, who is putting his impressive pipes on display at the Gowanus Loft.
“I’ve been able to find the space that I need.”
TJ Volonis’s opening reception at the Gowanus Loft [61 Ninth St. between Smith Street and Second Avenue in Gowanus (347) 763–2210]. Nov. 29, 7 pm. $10.
Reach reporter Eli Rosenberg at erosenberg@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2531. Follow him at twitter.com/emrosenberg.