Page 52 - Studio International - April 1966

Trova the Toy-maker

by Frank Whitford

They say that in New York Ernest T. Trova is a name to of veins and nerve-centres) ; and a standing, stainless steel
be reckoned with. Two years ago in London he showed figure is transfixed between giant wheels.
just paintings. Recently at the HANOVER GALLERY the A Falling Man sounds highly moralistic : man trapped
paintings took second place to sculptures and assemblages. by science or reduced to a cipher. But Trova has more
Neither quite justify Trova's advance notices. likely fastened on his man-image for its visual possibili-
His immaculately finished objects, which contain both ties, and though in places there seems to be an implied
Op and Neo-Dada elements, look as if they have been seriousness, there is probably a wink and a wry dig not
made under laboratory conditions. Beautifully and lov- too far beneath the surface. At the back of two perspex
ingly made, they delight for their sheer craftsmanship, if light-boxes where the silhouettes of men radiate from a
for no other reason—gleaming things of perspex, stainless circle are two plastic Mickey Mice, and here and there is
steel, and formica. a discreetly-drawn mathematical symbol, more pseudo
All the paintings and objects shown were studies for or than significant.
actually from a Falling Man series. It is not clear why There is no esoteric intention then; there are no forays
Trova is so fixed on this title. Common to all pieces is a into the realms of higher mathematics. Just a collection
stylized ideogram of a man, like an isotype symbol. But of perfectly-made objects—toys for adults. Like the large
the figure is hardly ever depicted in a falling attitude. steel cube decorated with those ubiquitous symbols, or
Groups of these symbols are poised as radii of a circle; the car-kit, a transparent case complete with handle and
single outlines of figures have illuminated incongruous fasteners, which contains the man, four rulers and a
innards (like those pseudo-medical Transparent Man gleaming mass of model parts. Not to be assembled—just
models, but with a map of downtown New York instead looked at. q

Figure from Car Kit 1965
Falling Man series (Falling Man series)
Chrome-plated bronze Chrome, plexiglas and perspex
Height 24 in. Height 14 1/4 in. Length 17 1/2 in. Depth 4+in.