NEW ROCHELLE, NY.- Gregg Hill: Smashed, an exhibition of new sculpture including crushed oil barrels with shiny immaculate surfaces, will debut at 3rd Rail Gallery from May 31 through June 28, 2008. The exhibition coincides with an exhibition of the same name in Manhattan at Serrano Contemporary in Chelsea from June 5 through July 8, 2008. The artist’s first solo shows in New York, Gregg Hill: Smashed presents the dynamic debut of an emerging artist. A fully illustrated catalogue with an essay by Mark Daniel Cohen will accompany the exhibitions.

Gregg Hill: Smashed at 3rd Rail Studio includes large scale work made with steel oil drums as well as aluminum soda cans. Many of the sculptures are created by literally smashing oil barrels with a crane and a large weight. Habit Energies of the Egoic Mind, 2008, features six massive smashed 275-gallon oil drums. The barrels are shown in one of three different stages: The first stage is left raw in its rusted state to symbolize impermanence; the second is refined with spray paint; the third stage is sanded and painted to a spectacularly shiny finish in bright candy colors inspired by logos of major corporations.

Boy in a Dream, 2008, is shiny black painted oil barrel smashed sideways with white lettering that could be a poem about a boy in a dream waking up. Text is often used by Hill on the sculpture and on plates above the work. It can refer to a spiritual thought or a comment about self identity such as “It becomes you” or a mantra such as “Breathe in, breathe out.”

The exhibition also includes smashed aluminum soda cans arranged in cubes. The 20-foot long title work, SMASHED, 2008, consists of 72 separate square sculptures created from found, flattened aluminum cans in the form of a monumental wall relief.