| DAVID
COLLINS |
 |
Skiff
2009
oil and acrylic on linen
38 x 54 inches |
 |
Untitled
2012
acrylic on linen
44 x 44 inches |
| |
| JAMES
ISHERWOOD |
 |
Sleeper
2009-2012
acrylic on panel
35 x 47 inches |
 |
Sheer
House
2010-2012
acrylic on papnel
15 x 12 inches |
|
Susan
Eley Fine Art is pleased to present Architectural Musings:
Recent Paintings by David Collins and James Isherwood,
a two-person exhibition featuring
8-10 paintings by each artist. Architecture and structure
act as a muse for both painters. Their recent work—an
interplay of indoors and outdoors—teem with layered
patterns, vibrant color and fragmented forms
DAVID
COLLINS
Born
in Iowa and raised in Texas, David Collins was influenced
by his family's history in Cold War era technology. His father
was an electrical engineer who filled the home with drafting
tools, navigational maps and architectural supplies. Collin's
recent paintings reveal the influence of these childhood items
in the floating and stacked planes, razor straight lines,
spheres and conical shapes, suspended against grounds of aquamarine,
green and blue.
The paintings evoke buildings, airports and construction sites
with fragmented planes and intersecting floor and ceiling
walls. One is unsure if one is peering inside or outside a
structure in Collin's synthetic spaces. The ambiguity is intentional.
The artist is playing with his own uncertain memories of places
he has visited, either in reality or in dreams, and is testing
us to do the same.
Evidence
of nautical design is apparent in "Skiff," comprised
of sleek hull forms, rendered in metallic paint and floating
on a blueprints of sorts. In "The Tops," the blade
or propeller like forms in gorgeous hues of blue, green, yellow
and pink, whirl and spin reminiscent of aviation design, rotation
and trajectories. The artist juxtaposes these mechanical components
with personal mementos of vintage wallpaper and hand-made
Japanese papers collaged into the composition.
This
is Collins first solo show with SEFA, after participating
in the Gallery's group show Summer Selects (2011).
Collins has exhibited nationally and internationally with
Kenise Barnes in Larchmont, NY; Heidi Cho Gallery, NYC; Jeffery
Coploff Gallery, NYC; Valley House Gallery, Dallas, TX; Marcia
Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA; The National Academy, NYC; Dorsky
Curatorial Program, Queens, NYC; The Jacksonville Museum of
Contemporary Art; and the Sanbao Ceramic Art Museum, Sanbao,
China. Awards include a Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop
fellowship and two Yaddo residencies. Collins has a BFA from
RISD (1988), and lives and works in NYC.
additional
information & works by David Collins
JAMES
ISHERWOOD
James
Isherwood was born in Fall River, Massachusetts and lives
in New York City. The artist continues his exploration of
architecture as the foundation for composition in his new
series. Isherwood begins with the concept of a house, sourcing
imagery from luxury real estate listings. He is drawn to these
advertisements because they deliver ready-made pictures of
well-appointed residences with impeccable lanscaping.
On a first viewing of Isherwood's work, we recognize the walls
and other architectural components. A closer inspection, however,
reveals that these enigmatic houses lack structural elements
that would make them inhabitable—doors and windows—and
are entirely devoid of people. There is light, sometimes emanating
from within, as if a TV has been left on, or sometimes glowing
from outside. The magic is in the illusion of a human presence,
felt in the mysterious light, strange shadows and intersecting
walls. Isherwood can apply up to one hundred layers of paint
in one painting. The layers are sanded, painted again, and
often pressed with objects with interesting markings, such
as paper towel sheeets or wood graining tools, to achieve
the rich patterns and texture taht are characteristic of his
paintings.
In
"Sleeper," the largest painting in the new series,
one wall shows a panoramic view of mountains. The mystery
is at once unsettling and exciting. Are we looking through
the house towards a real landscape? Or is the view an illustration
from inside the house? An impossibly tall tree has fallen
across the lawn in the front yard and the leaves creep up
the side of the house in an intricate, lacy pattern—Magritte
fashion.
Architectural
Musings is Isherwood's second solo show with SEFA, following
Regarding Arcadia in 2008. He has also participated
in several group shows, most recently in Summer Selects
(2011). Isherwood has exhibited at 722 Projects Space, Brooklyn
Fireproof Gallery; the Killebacksgarten Gallery in Sweden;
and at NYU's Small Works Show, among others.
Isherwood has a BFA from Parson's School of Design (1993)
additional
information & works by James Isherwood
For
information contact:
Susan Eley: 917.952.7641
susie@susaneley.com
| www.susaneleyfineart.com |