NYAB Event - Thomas Kovachevich "Shadows and Other Paintings"

Thomas Kovachevich "Shadows and Other Paintings"

Callicoon Fine Art

This event has ended.

This exhibition contains a diverse group of works representing the dynamism and richness of a key post-war conceptual and abstract artist. Comprised of paintings and sculptures within an installation of painted shadows, this show revisits the accomplishments of a seminal figure in contemporary American art.

The works in the exhibition define painting and sculpture as a diverse set of interconnected practices central to Kovachevich’s esthetic. To emphasize his desire that his works be viewed in relation to each other and to their surroundings, the artist will create an installation responding to the gallery's particular environment.

Whether on canvas, plastic, paper, or a combination of these materials, the work investigates the line between the physical and the metaphysical. The works are anchored by complex forms articulated in nature and carry a radical intensity of observation. The intimate universe of his work, including performance, belies larger questions of time and decay, evanescence and permanence.

Born in Detroit, New York based Kovachevich is both an artist and a physician. In 2002 he had an exhibition at the Santa Monica Museum of Art that included a plethora of his small scale painted plastics and a large installation comprised of paper tape. His earliest presentation of shadow paintings was in 1973, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. He has had other solo exhibitions in museums and galleries in the US and Europe including The Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Albert and Vera List Center at MIT, and the Centre de la Vieille Charité, Musees de Marseille. His works have also been included in numerous group shows such as at the Museum of Modern Art, Documenta 5, The Art Institute of Chicago, the Detroit Institute of Art, Musee d'art et d'histoire, Geneva, the Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, Switzerland, as well as in many galleries. Most recently his performances have been presented at the Sculpture Center, NY, the Santa Monica Museum of Art, Lincoln Center and the Bowery Poetry Club. In 1977 The Drawing Center in New York presented his performances nightly for six weeks. An artist book, Between the Area and the Source, was published this year by Regency Arts Press.

[Image: Thomas Kovachevich "Encyclopedia" (2010) Acrylic and plastic on linen 30 x 20 in.]