Alain Kirili and Bobbie Oliver Exhibition
Hionas Gallery LES
[Image: Alain Kirili "Iron Calligraphy VII" (2015) forged iron, 70 x 106 in.]
This event has ended.
Hionas Gallery presents its upcoming two-person show of new works by sculptor Alain Kirili and painter Bobbie Oliver. Comprising Kirili’s open form, calligraphic pieces made from forged raw iron, and a selection of new acrylic, abstract canvases by Oliver, the exhibition joins two bodies of work that, though starkly different in medium, are unlikely kin in terms of process. From inception to completion, Kirili and Oliver yield some measure of control to their respective elements, allowing nature to take its course and dictate the fluid and gestural state of each piece.
The musical nature of Kirili’s sculpture lends his works a levity that counteracts their literal weight. Strips of iron are twisted and conjoined to form an elemental language that is virtual, visual and tactile, and when mounted in sets are able to assume a composition of notes, calligraphic etchings, or even Primitivist renditions of cave drawings reminiscent of what one finds in Lascaux. Kirili’s narrative, however, is less one of transcribing an abstract language and instead is grounded in the material itself and its innate simplicity. The two natural extreme states of iron are black and rusted (young and aged), and to this dynamic the artist adds a third: shadow. “I love to restore the beauty of shadows,” says Kirili. To varying degrees, Kirili incorporates playful angles, curves and dimensions into each piece, resulting in complementary shadows that call further attention to his sculpture’s levity and honest approach to materiality.
Bobbie Oliver presents a different yet no less profound form of holism with her work. Working with highly liquid acrylics that are applied with what could be called improvised precision, Oliver manipulates the paint’s behavior through various means, including motion, gravity, moisture, and imprinting forms by laying canvases atop one another. This process lends the acrylic a pulsating quality and distributes distinct, almost biomorphic forms of varying intensity throughout the canvas, forging something of great visual depth and spatial emptiness all at once. “I love letting the material have its own voice,” says Oliver. To that end, her gestalts form a self-contained universe that is bright, nuanced, and in a constant state of flux.
This exhibition’s opening reception will take place on Thursday evening, October 8, beginning at 6:00 PM. Both artists will be present. For more information visit www.hionasgallery.com
Alain Kirili is a sculptor of verticality and modeling. His work emphasizes an “aesthetics of spontaneity” and seeks its formal unity through the variety of materials he employs in a quest for “organic simplicity.” Recently he has been working on the monumental aspects of sculpture in public spaces (at the campus of the University of Bourgogne in Dijon, in Paris and Grenoble). Kirili was commissioned by the Ministère de la Culture to install the sculpture of the 20th Century in the Tuileries in Paris. This exhibition marks his first time showing with Hionas Gallery.
Bobbie Oliver studied at the Centre for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI, and at St. Alban’s, UK. For more than 30 years her studio practice has been that of an abstract painter involved in the alchemy and chemistry of paint and its ability to correspond and transcend to a subtle world of imagery. This imagery mainly comes from the act of painting itself, though she is influenced by any number of sources from Chinese and Japanese calligraphy to Indian textiles, Sumi ink drawing, Byzantine mosaics and Roman frescos. Oliver is the former Chair of the Painting Department at RISD. This marks her first time showing with Hionas Gallery. She lives and works in New York.
Media
Schedule
from October 08, 2015 to November 08, 2015
Opening Reception on 2015-10-08 from 18:00 to 20:00