"Horror Vacui" Group Exhibition

McKenzie Fine Art

poster for "Horror Vacui" Group Exhibition

This event has ended.

Does nature really abhor a vacuum? Scientifically, this Aristotelian theory regarding the "fear of open space" was disproved centuries ago. But for artists, the desire to create work where all (or nearly all) the space is filled stems from a number of motivations. Largely eschewing figure/ground relationships and employing an "allover" compositional format, the works in the exhibition embrace a visual denial of open space and celebrate complexity and obsessive execution through dense mark making or intricate patterning and ornamentation. The works express a range of emotions, from a joyful generosity of spirit to an almost paranoiac claustrophobia. While denying open space can be interpreted as the denial of the unknown, or the mitigation of the fear of death, it is also a stance against minimalist reduction and an embrace of richness and complexity. Ironically, in the obsessive creation of some of these works, a Zen-like state of mind can be achieved.

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