Exhibition Dates: October 7 – November 17, 2016
Opening Reception: Friday, October 7, 6-8pm
Chandra Cerrito Contemporary is pleased to present Essential Structure: New Work by Danielle Mysliwiec and Sabine Reckewell. In this exhibition, our assumptions about media are upended by sculptural paintings that resemble weavings and drawings that are constructed of thread or yarn.
In Danielle Mysliwiec’s latest work, she continues her boundary-pushing exploration of abstract, process-driven painting that results in what the artist refers to as the “illusion of interwoven warp and weft.” Using a unique method of extruding tiny strands of oil paint and applying them in a repetitive, systematic way, Mysliwiec constructs intricately patterned surfaces that are accumulations of marks, rather than brushstrokes. Her works distinctly encapsulate the time and methodical labor invested in their creation. Given their reduced and often monochromatic color palettes, depiction of imagery is beside the point. We respond to these paintings as though they are sculpture—we perceive light reflecting off and shadows within their shallow dimensional surfaces, and notice how they change as we move around them. Light, shadow and color cohere to form bewildering textured skins.
While Mysliwiec uses paint in a non-figurative way that mimics textiles, Sabine Reckewell uses fiber materials to create drawings that suggest architectural forms. Known for creating large-scale volumetric spaces with string, Reckewell’s most recent work confines the materials and techniques of her installations to two dimensions. The oversize wall drawings and small embroideries featured in Essential Structure appear to be simplified, schematic drawings of imagined modernist buildings. The abstracted block-like shapes oscillate between appearing to protrude in space and flattening out. They are drawn in slightly askew perspective using minimal means of parallel or converging lines that define each plane. The wall drawings are comprised of two or three colors of yarn held taut by nails, while the embroideries are made with cotton thread stitched through canvas paper. Explaining the juxtaposition of medium and imagery, Reckewell says, “I like the absurdity of trying to imbue embroidery with architectural ambitions.” Like Mysliwiec, Reckewell incorporates repetition, geometry, and linear patterns, but in this case, she utilizes those to create the illusion of volume and allude to fundamental forms of modern architecture.
Check gallery website for hours and additional info
