Brave New World
McClain Gallery, Houston
May 22 - July 3, 2004
McClain Gallery presents the group exhibition "Brave New World" with artists Clarina Bezzola, Alfred DeCredico, Faith Gay, Rebecca Horn, Mark Lombardi, Julie Mehretu , Joel Morrison, James Richards, Matthew Ritchie, Heidi Trepanier, Jason Villegas.
Question: "If you visited a never before seen earth-like world, what would you bring back with you?" A limited answer is stories, ideas and physical objects. The exhibition, Brave New World, is formed around an idea of communicating this strange story or novel-esque epic by exhibiting works that tell stories, show fantasy forms and describe never before seen places. The exhibition seeks to transport the viewer into the various aspects of a "plot" where each work of art serves as a chapter, as if one is visiting a place and is experiencing it from numerous perspectives.
Clarina Bezzola - Her work deals with re-contextualizing traditional stories and often involves transmutation between physical forms. Her highly narrative work boarders on the surreal because of her exotic visuals, costumes and contexts.
Alfred DeCredico - His canvases are highly expressive and dense with heavy raw color. The canvases are full of goopy, drippy paint, primitive forms, figures and abstract shapes that make a rich narrative.
Faith Gay - She uses color like a pop-star. She elevates a common plastic bead by creating sophisticated compositions from various individual parts that come together in a symphonic organic color field abstraction. Her work suggests microbial organisms and sometimes macro views of land masses.
Rebecca Horn - Having had a long career, her work has manifested in many forms but she is best known for her performances incorporating body sculpture. She deals with issues concerning the body, vulnerability, isolation, history and environments.
Mark Lombardi - He creates visual narratives by diagramming the economic underpinnings of various organizations ranging from political groups, corporations and even individuals. Graphite and colored pencil illustrate exactly how far the influence of money travels across our globe.
Julie Mehretu - Her visual vocabulary incorporates maps, urban planning grids and architectural forms assembled in layers with color field, abstract geometry and maelstroms of color and line.
Joel Morrison - His sculptures are a fresh dialog on modernist sculpture. The cobbled armatures are formed from found objects that eventually become embedded beneath the fluid lacquered surfaces of his sculptures. The finished form seems like an organic machine paused in mid-motion with its skin stretched over the moving parts inside.
James Richards - His works take on sculptural aspects of painting completely ignoring ideas or the practicality of traditional surfaces. Richards uses colored and painted yarn or string to crisscross the painting stretcher; using the yarn like a drawn line. He is able to create dynamic compositions by filling with brightly painted surfaces and leaving areas of intertwined yarn to cast shadows against the wall.
Matthew Ritchie - His paintings tell the story of everything, from the beginning of time onward. Ritchie created a core group of characters drawn from sources as diverse as mythology, quantum physics, alchemy, gambling, biblical tales, and pulp fiction to illustrate a highly personal epic tale.
Heidi Trepanier - Her paintings are of highly organic fleshy forms oozing and acting out their momentary lives on her canvases. Seemingly microscopic forms are catapulted into enormous scale by sub-forms acting out their own dialog unaware of the larger presence.
Jason Villegas - He questions contemporary ideology and culture through a visual commentary on life's routines, private moments, personal relationships, mass consumerism, waste, and nature.
McCLAIN GALLERY
2242 Richmond Avenue, Houston, TX 77098
