Time Waves – Simona Prives at John Doe
Time Waves, the new upcoming exhibition at John Doe features collage and animation by Simona Prives. The Brooklyn based artist examines in her new body of work our complex relationship to the environment. The structures within each of her compositions prompts the viewer to piece together an alternative reality, created out of imaginative juxtapositions between growth and decay, the organic and man-made.
Gail Winbury – Day by Day
In her diverse series of paintings and collages Gail Winbury expresses reflections on love, identity, feminism, aging, and mortality – with psychological and emotional resonance. For Art Spiel she elaborates on her formative experiences as an artist, her work practice, and thought process.
[caption id="attachment_2395" align="alignnone" width="458"] Gail Winbury, Mixed Media Collage: oil paint on canvas and paper, sumi ink on vellum, a piece of acrylic on canvas from Jim Fliess, pearls, magazine, enamel paint on paper on Bristol Board, 24″ x 19″, 2016. Photo by Peter Jacobs[/caption]
Cecile Chong – The Layers Beneath
In her layered paintings and installations Cecile Chong brings to life notions of “otherness”, how cultural filters make us see each other. Her departure point derives organically from her experiences since early childhood. Here she shares some of these experiences, the genesis of her diverse body of work, and her upcoming projects.
[caption id="attachment_2417" align="alignnone" width="385"] Cecile Chong, DNA Matching, 2018Encaustic and mixed media on wood
11 x 8 inches, photo courtesy of the artist[/caption]
Las Gravitas at ODETTA
Photos by Sharilyn Neidhardt, unless otherwise indicated
A show of swirling color and geometry finds ways to discuss complicated issues of violence and social collapse.
What drew me to ODETTA on a very chilly Saturday were the colorful, pagoda-like structures in the main space. Human-scale structures that echo lanterns or birdcages are covered in awkward spiky garlands of colored plastic tubes. The festive air created by the riot of bright color seems fun at first, and it’s only on second inspection that a viewer realizes the color is coming from spent shotgun shells.
[caption id="attachment_2434" align="alignnone" width="500"] Margaret Roleke, ‘pop pop’ (installation view) spent shot gun shells, wire, zipties, steel boxes. 2 boxes each approx. 9’h x 5’w x 5’d[/caption]
Tamar Zinn – Field and Geometry
Throughout her drawings and paintings Tamar Zinn has developed her own visual vocabulary, rooted in abstraction. Zinn shares with Art Spiel her growth as an artist, work process, and current art and curatorial projects.
[caption id="attachment_2408" align="alignnone" width="289"] Tamar Zinn, Pavane 21, 2017, pigmented charcoal and conté crayon on paper, 17 x 9”. Photo courtesy of the artist[/caption]
Patricia Fabricant – Weaving a Fluctuating Self
After November 2016 Patricia Fabricant‘s paintings shifted from dense and layered abstractions to self portraits depicting fluctuating expressions and altogether underscoring post election malaise. Fabricant developed an intriguing mechanism of observation and layering. Her gaze is meant to be neutral, just a stare into the mirror but throughout the weaving process, chance yields unintended emotions – knowing, anxious, sad. The artist describes in this interview for Art Spiel her process, ideas, and on going projects.
[caption id="attachment_2248" align="alignnone" width="500"] Patricia Fabricant, Emotions: Angry, Love, Confused, Sad, Shocked, Anxiety, 2016. Each gouache on paper, 16 x 12 inches, photo courtesy of the artist[/caption]
Color Matters at Galerie Richard
Color is a function of reflected light and it is intrinsic to everything we see. Color is also freighted with emotion for humans – certain colors can excite or depress us even without our awareness – teases, shouts, whispers, sings. Color can be fugitive or it may sound an alarm. As a painter and former paint-maker, color has been a lifelong obsession for me. It’s also the focus of a new, stunning group show at Galerie Richard on the Lower East Side.
Sarah Bednarek – ChiChi DooDad
In her sculptures Sarah Bednarek refers to minimalism with humor and love. She turns minimalism’s aesthetics on its head – utilizing minimalist language of precision to highlight the chaotic and unexpected . Her sculptures are on a human scale – witty and visceral through playful material and form. Bednarek shares with Art Spiel some insight on her life and her recent exhibition, ChiChi DooDad at Tiger Strikes Asteroid New York.
[caption id="attachment_2326" align="alignnone" width="400"] Sarah Bednarek, Hi There, 2018, mdf, velvet, paint, 33 x 68 x 10 in. , photo Courtesy of Yael Eban[/caption]
A Visit With Jaynie Crimmins
All photos by Catherine Kirkpatrick
[caption id="attachment_2208" align="alignnone" width="500"] Jaynie Gillman Crimmins in her studio[/caption]Just inside Jaynie Gillman Crimmins studio is a small table with a mirror, a piece of coral, and jar of shells. By the time you leave, you understand what they say about her inspiration and concerns. But they’re quickly forgotten as you go further, encounter the artist’s work and fall under its spell.