Charles Koegel's first solo exhibition in New York.Featured are eight large abstract paintings and a group of representational drawings inspired by New York City’s shifting urban landscape that the artist “feels compelled to record and preserve”. In both mediums Koegel creates tension by playing... Read more
Charles Koegel’s first solo exhibition in New York.Featured are eight large abstract paintings and a group of representational drawings inspired by New York City’s shifting urban landscape that the artist “feels compelled to record and preserve”. In both mediums Koegel creates tension by playing abstraction against representation. A geometric grid can also be read as architecture, an old wood floor or a wall. A realistic rendering of a Brooklyn house is cast against the geometry of “a Frank Stella inspired skyline”. Through his art Koegel acknowledges earlier architectural periods in our city’s history.
The influence of music in Koegel’s painting is evident in the exhibition’s title, Any Colour You Like, taken from a Pink Floyd song. The title also refers to color spectrums frequently used in the band’s album cover art. Koegel uses a like range of color “to instill sensation” in his paintings. The artist layers acrylic over oil paint which causes the surface to crack, so the underlying layers of paint are visible through the top layer “creating another dimension of color”. The splintered surface also suggests corrosion and implies urban decay. Expanding the surface effect, the artist has begun to glue on grass and vintage wall paper, further emphasizing the impression of decomposing façades. For Koegel these paintings are like “unkempt landscapes you stumble across in rundown urban neighborhoods.” It is the artist’s hope that their decayed appearance “may incite a need for urban renewal for the environment they are inspired from.”
