Seth Michael Forman “Over the Hills”

frosch & portmann

poster for Seth Michael Forman “Over the Hills”

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frosch&portmann is pleased to present Over The Hills, the gallery’s second solo exhibition by New York based artist Seth Michael Forman.

The artist’s recent paintings—imagined tableaus informed by New England landscapes and dreams—are reveries that evoke a sense of remoteness, time past, isolation and mystery. The result is a combination that both grounds the paintings and raises intriguing questions for the viewer.

Inspired by a wide variety of historical influences, ranging from primitive Flemish and Dutch paintings to American Folk Art, the paintings’ formal elements are traceable to early American modernist painters such as Arthur Dove. The artist constructs abstract theatrical presentations in his paintings; trees often frame the works like living curtains opening to reveal a stage set. The scene that unfolds behind them seems to have no beginning. Or end.

Animals, human figures old and young, rocks, and boulders all share importance as characters within the remote landscapes. The scenes unfurl with playful and sly contradictions. While at first glance all may seem idyllic, off kilter details jar the viewer’s sense of normalcy. For example, in “Falls Village Bear Scare” a black bear approaches a seemingly defenseless man clad only in a bathrobe and underwear. The painting evokes a sense of mystery of the unknown and the
viewer is left wondering. Who is scaring who?

Forman revels in these insular moments of solitude and mystery. Even when figures appear together in a painting, they make no contact with each other and are psychologically isolated within a group. By exploring these private moments, Forman creates an intimate and unsettling communion between the viewer and
narrative.

Seth Michael Forman lives and works in Brooklyn and Kent, Connecticut. He is currently teaching at the School of Visual Arts and the Westchester Center for the Arts. His paintings were exhibited
in “Picturing the Modern Amazon” at the New Museum of Contemporary Art and were featured on “State of the Arts,” a PBS broadcast. His work has been included in over fifty exhibitions, and the New York Foundation for the Arts has twice awarded him Painting Fellowships, first in 2004 and again in 2008.

[Image:Seth Michael Forman “Falls Village Bear Scare” (2009-13), Oil on panel, 20 x 24 inches]

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Schedule

from October 17, 2013 to November 24, 2013

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