Unreality Bomb, a term which characterizes a painting that had pieces deliberately removed, is a new exhibit of works that have unseen layers removed to playfully reveal the artists' emotions and vulnerable sincerity.
Painter/curator Alex Sewell presents Unreality Bomb, a new group exhibit featuring paintings and sculptures displaying the combination of abstract and figurative expression at Five Myles Gallery. The exhibit, which features works by Jake Brush, Paul Gagner, Jessica Tawcyznski, Maggie Goldstone, Duy Hoàng, Dan Fig and Eric Ashcraft, will be on view from March 17 to April 15.
The term "Unreality Bomb" was first coined by Roger White in the art book The Contemporaries in which he used the term to characterize a painting that had pieces deliberately removed from it, as a stylistic choice. White's term describes the theme of Sewell's exhibit Unreality Bomb, a collection of works that have unseen layers removed to create an impression of space; the works on display are influenced by the contributing artists' emotions, featuring self-revealing images and impressions of a vulnerable sincerity.
Eric Ashcraft, whose work has been presented at galleries all over the country including Chicago, Portland, New York, Valencia and Indianapolis, paints careful arrangements of mundane objects connected together, balancing on or hanging from each other, against monochrome backgrounds, producing an unsettling effect. Many of these images pass on the artist's anxieties, as in his "Still Life with Brain."
Video artist Jake Brush is a 2017 Signal Culture artist in residence, who uses mundane objects such as strawberries, houses, body parts and picket fences that overlap, slide or crowd the screen, thereby creating comical, whimsical and sometimes grotesque associations of ideas. Aside from Five Myles gallery, Brush's video work has been on view at galleries all across New York.
Through a series of images, painter Dan Fig presents an intimate, personal narrative disrupted by geometric patterns. His paintings are amalgamations of cultural influences ranging from explicit art historical references, graphic design and advertising language, soccer matches and more which often These elements, in concert with one another, create a familiarity with a tendency toward the absurd.
Brooklynite Paul Gagner has shown in numerous group shows in New York, most recently at Driscoll Babcock, and has work in the print archive's permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. For this exhibit, he presents a series of exaggerated self-portraits, infused with a comical sense of unease and gives a window into the artist's daily experience with a refreshing lack of complacency.
Maggie Goldstone's artwork has been at home in various galleries all across New York City as well as in Boston, Hamburg and Singapore. Her paintings on view at Five Myles depict tender scenes of bathing and self-care, as well as memories with specific people or animals. Her bold, often uniformly colored yet richly textured backgrounds create an impression of intimacy, bringing forward subject, and appealing to the viewer's empathy with the depicted human or animal.
Duy Hoàng's work certainly will spike the viewer's curiosity: He presents plant-based installations, using transparent plastic sheets and cups, making the audience inevitably want to know more about the secrets held by these small containers.
Brooklyn-based artist Jessica Tawczynski's paintings highlight ever-developing landscapes. Painted planes juxtapose, suggesting a much larger world that stretches beyond the canvass. In 2017, Tawczynski was the artist in residence at Gilfelagid Listagil in Akureyri, Iceland; she will begin a new residency at Listhus AIR Iceland in September 2018.
Unreality Bomb is on view from March 17 to April 15. Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm or by appointment.
'Unreality Bomb' Opening Reception
When: Saturday, March 17, 5:00 pm -8:00 pm
Where: Five Myles Gallery, 558 St Johns Pl, Brooklyn, NY 11238
