NYAB Event - “Evidence of Absence” Exhibition

“Evidence of Absence” Exhibition

ZieherSmith

This event has ended.

The simplest of searches informs us that an argumentum ad ignorantiam is impossible. For today’s artist, there is little concern for proof per se— validity is mostly immaterial. Proof is taken for granted. The artists in this exhibition, all under 40 years old, adhere primarily to that poetic tendency in their approaches to both vacancy and evidence of the same.

Samuel T. Adams work resonates with mark-making traditions steeped in painterly and collage precedents. Experimentation and lab-rat intuition dictate his imagery, created with acrylic, oil and carborundum on re-stretched canvas, the sequence of paintings resemble subtly shadowed, cruciform windows, with occasional hints at the iconography of language. The canvas surface is occasionally stained and shredded, he excises with an acidic voice.

Alex Jovanovich, a participant in this year’s Whitney Biennial, executes meticulous combinations of graphite and India ink on paper. Conceived organically and without planning, they develop as the remains of a linear wanderlust, resembling dark flora constrained with cinches and clasps. The three drawings are mounted on sleek black plinths, elevating them while insisting they remain prone.

Ryan Mrozowski’s current paintings series consist of painted wooden blocks inlaid in a simple wooden armature. Optic shifts in color and line indicate the patterns of slightly skewed fabric, a play on perception as well as a distinct methodology toward making a two-dimensional plane out of three dimensional objects. Their graphic power is enhanced upon realization that the interstitial gaps between blocks of color are space acting as line.

The paintings in Lauren Silva’s March 2014 debut solo exhibition at ZieherSmith were praised by Roberta Smith as “elaborately layered compositions (forcing) various techniques, styles and spatial notions into carefully orchestrated collisions.” Represented here with ceramic work that suggests calcified remnants of some ancient civilization’s implements and effects, Silva’s sculpture acts as an understated compliment to her often ludic paintings.

Adam Winner’s untitled paintings are made without brushes, using the palette knife and strips or patches of canvas; an attempt to usurp traditional expectations in an unabashed embrace of materials resulting in timeless abstractions of scrappy minimalism.

Media

• Painting
• Drawing

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