Satchel Projects: Daniel Wiener, “Out in Front of the Back of the Beyond,“ 2026, installation view
Daniel Wiener at Satchel Projects: Out in front of the back of beyond
Out in Front of the Back of Beyond, the title of Daniel Wiener’s current solo exhibition at Satchel Projects, is a perfect pitch for the work on view. The notion of “front and back” strikes a strong chord throughout — explicit in the freestanding sculptures, hinted at in the wall pieces.
The two larger floor-based sculptures, facing each other, stand out. At first glance, they offer only a textural front, a mask-like façade resembling a mutated zombie from a sci-fi movie, an archaic ritual mask drawing on an amalgam of cultures. Their skinny sides reveal stripes resembling strata, a child’s plasticine sorting, a prototype of an organic life form, or plants. Doubling Back is predominantly warm yellow with spurts of bright green, lavender purple, and Bazooka bubblegum pink, creating a model of a fantastic organism. The predominant beige in Polyphony Beyond the Baton’s Thrust, along with its pronounced facial features — a linear green for a mouth, orange rows of teeth, a green hole for a nose, cookie-like blue circles for cheeks — make an immediately recognizable face.