CHC Gallery is pleased to present Line + Field, an exhibition focused on the artistic exploitation of paper. This is the gallery’s second group show examining the role of restraint in the creative process. Through a combination of various drawing and painting media, our artists have created on paper, works originally conceived for canvas.
Following all canvas exhibits, interests have shifted to alternative media, i.e. paper replacing canvas. Hanging in the back gallery, are select canvases from the Line + Field series. The juxtaposition allows the viewer to make immediate comparisons between media: their limitations, attributes and social stigma. It evokes thought pertaining to the artists’ approach to media and conversely, the viewers’ approach to both.
Discouraged by an over reliance on confrontational materials and theoretical method, Carol Hu, Chuki, and Marks exemplify key elements of Abstract Expressionism with their color usage, composition, spontaneity and motion of application. Taiwanese-born artist, Carol Hu adheres to the strict principle of solely applying paint to canvas and using few media. Possessing an extensive background in art history, she realizes the appreciation for traditional method. Much of her work is lighthearted, but meticulously executed. She received her formal art education from Mason Gross School of the Arts.
Chuki expresses through an organically inspired dialogue, an exploration of sensual juxtaposition. His forms, primarily monolithic, are infused with textural, tonal and chromatic subtleties beckoning the viewer to join in his journey. Chuki incorporates a diverse range of materials and their applications to create a literal depth. Chuki received numerous honors during his time at the University of Kentucky.
Marks’ intricate works speak to the viewer through their layers of vibrant color. Their smooth, luminescent quality reflects an intent of visual sensation. The canvas story is one of texture and layering intended to convey dimension. Mostly a self-taught artist, Marks was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and attended the University of Alabama.
Textural and layered depth is common between Candamil, Joshua Gage and Ralph Turturro, though individual results prove vastly dissimilar. Candamil is a self-taught artist born in rural Colombia. Candamil’s early works in their texture, composition, and color palette display a fascination with the surroundings of his youth. Currently, he focuses on incorporating the foreign imagery of recent experiences into what had been such an endogenous process.
The on-canvas product of that endeavor is a palpable tension between a rural fidelity to tradition and an urban obsession with modernity. Joshua Gage produces gritty, urban paintings, which allude to contemporary popular influences, from graffiti scrawl to graphic novels. His emphasis on these surroundings is evident in the use of monochromatic earth tones livened with neon colors. Gage received his M.A. from New York University.
The primitive scrawls in Ralph Turturro’s work, is about depth and texture. The colors, texts, and inadvertent images that grow out of his process of painting are tools he uses to discover a world as he describes as “eternally, cosmically, and universally real.” He sees this process as similar to that of “an archeologist discovering found objects that send one reeling back and forth through time.” Turturro was born in New York and received his M.F.A. from Pratt Institute. He has exhibited extensively in New York and San Francisco since 1989.
