• The Untamed Hand

    Date posted: March 28, 2012 Author: jolanta

    Perusing the notion of imperfection seems to have become a minor and yet prevalent obsession in New York’s contemporary art scene. There appears to be, more than a confrontation with ugliness or an affinity for the lackluster, an appeal for the creation of the unclean and the informal in some of New York’s young artists. By employing quotidian materials and a sense of humor, these artists exercise their proclivity for mess making. These two shows further explore the ongoing thread that seems to be running through New York’s young galleries today.

    “…while the handling of materials, unsteady edges and uncertain compositions activate the work with energy, humor and disheveled charm.”

    Amy Feldman, Under-polished stubs, 2011. Acrylic on canvas, 39 x 52 in. Courtesy of the artist.

    The Untamed Hand
    Perusing the notion of imperfection seems to have become a minor and yet prevalent obsession in New York’s contemporary art scene. There appears to be, more than a confrontation with ugliness or an affinity for the lackluster, an appeal for the creation of the unclean and the informal in some of New York’s young artists. By employing quotidian materials and a sense of humor, these artists exercise their proclivity for mess making. These two shows further explore the ongoing thread that seems to be running through New York’s young galleries today.
    MsBehavior: Amy Feldman, Polly Shindler, Amanda Valdez
    April 5 – June 28, 2012
    Opening Reception: April 5, 6 – 8PM
    526 W. 26th Street, 502a

    The ArtBridge Drawing Room is very pleased to present MsBehavior, a three-women exhibition featuring the paintings and drawings of Amy Feldman, Polly Shindler and Amanda Valdez. Be it on canvas or scratch paper, sturdy, near-primal shapes assert their right to take up space and interact, while the handling of materials, unsteady edges and uncertain compositions activate the work with energy, humor and disheveled charm.

    Even as they further articulate their shapes in paint, gesso and fabric, the finished works retain the rough immediacy of their preliminary sketches. For Feldman, moments of material misconduct shake up established compositional codes, while Shindler’s scratch marks aim to evoke a primitive age of symbol and ritual. Valdez also leaves room for her materials to act out, situating the resulting mess in the context of human experience, “culturally, the ideal of perfection carries a high value and currency,” she says “the experience I have is of being imperfect—continuously imperfect even in the process of making.”
    John O’Connor, A Strings, 2009. Acrylic ink, colored pencil and graphite on paper,
    41 inches x 32 inches. Courtesy of the artist.
    Paper:Work: John O’Connor, Theresa Byrnes, Polly Shindler, Xanda McCagg, Anna Sorenson, and Brad Guarino.
    Curated by Kelly Worman.Ground Arts Organization
    OPENING RECEPTION: Thursday, April 26th, 2012 6-9pm

    Ground Arts Organization proudly presents the exhibition Paper:Work. This exhibition highlights works on paper by six contemporary painters. These six artists investigate one of the most familiar and humble of mediums, paper, and embrace the delicacy and surface of paper as a material. All six painters use paper as a point of departure, ranging from a platform for performance to a preparatory exercise; paper is an integral part of their processes. While separately demonstrating a broad range of technical and conceptual approaches, together they promise a fresh take on the indispensable presence of works on paper in contemporary art.

    Gallery sales commission will be tax-deductible and go directly towards the I am Haiti Project. Ground Arts continues to support the I Am Haiti project which brought canvasses to the children of the Maranatha school and orphanage after the earthquake, helping rebuild their school with the exhibition of their first paintings.

     

     

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