6 x 6 Group Exhibition at Transmitter

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TRANSMITTER PRESENTS: 6 x 6
JEFF FELD, ERIK SHANE SWANSON, LYNN SULLIVAN, JOHN BOHL, SKYE GILKERSON, SANDRA ONO
FEBRUARY 20 – MARCH 28, 2015
OPENING RECEPTION FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 6 – 9 PM


Transmitter is delighted to announce 6 x 6, with works by Jeff Feld, Erik Shane Swanson, Lynn Sullivan, John Bohl, Skye Gilkerson and Sandra Ono. The opening will take place Friday, February 20, 2015 from 6 – 9 pm and the works will be on view through March 28, 2015. 6 x 6 is a show created through a process of “curatorial telephone.” Each Transmitter partner chose an artist in the order in which the partner joined the gallery. Additionally, each partner chose an artist for 6 x 6 based on perceived harmonizing themes of the works that preceded their choice. With this eccentric curatorial process Transmitter created a potential for multilayered interpretations of visual connections. 

Rob de Oude, initiator and originator of Transmitter, chose Jeff Feld. Rob says “I met Jeff a few years back during openings at one of the many galleries in Bushwick and as it turns out we have a lot of mutual friends. He had kept the door to his new studio and home shut for a long time because of renovations, but then during open studios a year and a half ago, I had the opportunity to see his work and was immediately attracted to these sculptures for their humorous and lightweight (literally) take on formalism and modernism. The pieces are very well made and I did not recognize the material right away; they appear to be wood, metal or stone rather than cardboard.”

Carl Gunhouse next selected Erik Shane Swanson, whose interest in vernacular objects and design has led to a practice that elevates and redeems the everyday. Swanson’s most recent work embeds commercial iconography from ice packs and saltshakers into faux-marble, using an ancient Roman practice called scagliola. This creates a sleight of hand within a sleight of hand, revealing overlooked everyday objects by embedding them in marble patterns, while hiding the materiality of the work in plain sight.

Tom Marquet chose Lynn Sullivan. In her work, plaster forms appear to have been fixed midway through processes of division and duplication. Initially bone or fossil-like in appearance, these forms are built by layering plaster and paper pulp on models of sailing ships, one form of sculpture growing on top of another. This process of division and accumulation is hinted at and echoed in the structure of the works' pedestals. Through this process, Sullivan recodes the nostalgic metaphors of travel inherent in the model sailing ship into an uncanny echo of the artifacts of pre-historic, pre-human time. 

Rod Malin selected John Bohl’s work for its referential language that activates a dialogue within the group exhibition. Bohl creates a symposium of visible language expressed fluidly across several major bodies of works. Bohl’s keen sense of collaboration has given his practice a foundation of social and aesthetic value. His ability to navigate painting in a playful, yet thoughtfully determined manner, is untarnished by the challenges of the craft. Bohl’s abstractions could be classified as Visceral-Pop; they are suggestive and unique while being culturally familiar. 

Sara Jones chose Skye Gilkerson, who uses subtle interventions, constructed from ordinary, often ubiquitous materials, to unfold our awareness of our surroundings and destabilize familiar structures. Space, time, light, and language, as well as architecture, landscape, and changes in the weather; all become the materials for this exploration. She says, “From the vacant building next to my studio, to the distance between mountain ranges, to the spaces that separate words on a page, my work begins with openings and gaps.” In this exhibition, Skye will be showing works on paper from the series “Wounded in West Texas.”

Finally, Mel Prest invited Sandra Ono to complete the exhibition. Ono’s work is precise, but not tight, and is filled with dark humor and beauty. Inspired by biology and physiology, she uses synthetic, utilitarian products, such as fake fingernails, plastic bags and rubber bands, transformed into larger shapes. With repetitive gestures, she constructs organic forms that appear to build up and break down at the same moment to serve as proxies for different internal states. Her objects and installations experiment with formal elements and the way they shape our cognitive and visceral experiences.

The Wassaic Project Print Edition

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This week I had the pleasure of traveling to Wassaic, NY to participate in the Wassaic Project Print Edition. They invite artists to come up and create a print edition with their master printer, which for me was an amazing experience to work in a medium that I am not that familiar with. It's fun to get out of your comfort zone, especially when it makes you think about your work differently! Here is a slide show of the process of creating the 4-color print I made with printer Scott Porcelli.

The Great White Whale is Black

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A book I began working on several years ago has been published! In January 2010, I had the great honor of working on an exhibition at The Cooper Union called "The Great White Whale is Black," featuring the work of painter and architect Tony Candido. At the time, we really wanted to put out a catalogue to celebrate the exhibition, but the project grew to include newer work and became an even richer and deeper investigation of Tony's thoughts and teachings. Steven Hillyer (the Director of the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture Archive at The Cooper Union) and I worked with Tony to edit and select the artwork that went into the book, Steven spent many hours condensing pages and pages of interviews, and I figured out a way to arrange and design a cohesive volume that ended up including over 100 works of art. I was endlessly inspired while working on this project, and am honored to have been able to have contributed to the creation of The Great White Whale is Black. 

Current: Gowanus

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One of my paintings has been selected for CURRENT: GOWANUS, an exhibition curated by Benjamin Sutton, that opens with a big benefit celebration next Wednesday, May 14th. You are invited to come out and celebrate and support the great non-profit that is Arts Gowanus! There will also be a closing party on Saturday, May 17th, as well as many other fun events in between. Please come out, see some great art, and support the artists who work in Gowanus! More information about all the events is here.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I am excited to share my new website with you. I have been busy in the studio, and hope to photograph my new work soon! In the meantime, enjoy the spruced-up new presentation, and be sure to check out my jewelry line, Two-point, and my tumblr, Piles + Voids.