Paul Caranicas "A Survey: From The Center To The Edge, 1980 - 2010"

Bernarducci Meisel Gallery

poster for Paul Caranicas "A Survey: From The Center To The Edge, 1980 - 2010"

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The gallery is proud to announce a survey exhibition of paintings by Paul Caranicas entitled "From the Center to the Edge: 1980-2010." Exhibiting some of the major highlights from the artist's four previous solo exhibitions at the Gallery, this comprehensive survey will also include paintings previously exhibited in Barcelona, Paris, and other major cities. Caranicas's unique relationship to architecture is evident throughout his entire oeuvre. The exhibition features a series of Time Bomb paintings, followed by those of abandoned WWII Bunkers placed along serene beaches, and extending through to the present Ozone series that frames luxuriant views of the sky using cityscapes and architectural, industrial, and sculptural edges. Although varied in subject the paintings remain harmonious as a whole.

"Ozone 14 (Exit 15E)" frames a container farm near an exit off the New Jersey Turnpike. The colorful containers juxtaposed against an expansive blue sky are further framed by the foreshortened view of the Watergate Hotel and Mark Di Suvero's sculpture "Are Years What? (For Marianne Moore)" (1967) which is currently in the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Using the sky as the central image, Caranicas explores the possibilities of combining sculpture and architecture to accentuate the contrasting atmosphere of machine-made mystery.

Caranicas's "Bunker (Cape May)" (1984) solemnly rests on the shores of the docile Atlantic Ocean as it recalls the destructive potential of modern civilization. For several years, Caranicas traveled along the Eastern American coastline and the English Channel in search of the mammoth remnants of World War II with long narrow artillery slits.

Caranicas memorializes the initial moment of mayhem in the hypothetical post-apocalyptic world he creates in "Time Bomb" (1986). A winding staircase, miniscule in size compared to its bulbous key structure, ironically dominates the composition as it is juxtaposed against the massive structure futilely holding the calamitous bomb in place as it begins to explode. Painted before the fall of the Berlin wall, at the climax of the cold war, these "Time Bombs" offer a unique interpretation of what may happen. Not showing the impending destruction, the viewer is left to interpret the perils of civilization based on their own imagination.

The diverse subjects explored by the artist throughout the two decades relate in many ways. Their compositional style compliments their austere view of civilization at this point in time. Caranicas explores the architectural accomplishments of society as they allude to the shifting epochs of history.

[Image: Paul Caranicas "Ozone 21 (Empire Plaza 3)" (2010) oil on linen 50 x 78 in.]

Media

Schedule

from March 03, 2011 to March 26, 2011

Artist(s)

Paul Caranicas

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