Heather Guertin “Worm Turns Atmosphere”

Brennan & Griffin

[Image: Heather Guertin "An Appearance, Pink" (2016) Oil on canvas 96 x 68 in.]

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Brennan & Griffin presents Worm Turns Atmosphere, Heather Guertin’s second solo exhibition with the gallery and her first at the gallery’s new location, 122 Norfolk Street.

For this exhibition, Heather Guertin debuts six large paintings in which the oval plays a fundamental role. It is a shape that has become increasingly significant to her practice in recent years. By duplicating, dividing, and overlapping the symmetrical form Guertin embraces the infinite potential of the ellipse to expand and collapse while keeping it constant and recognizable. In these works, the artist has abstracted the human face to a singular outline that fills up the complete space of the painting; the support becomes an entire body.

The title of the exhibition, Worm Turns Atmosphere, is a poetic play on the idea of metamorphosis: the evolution from a nascent creature to a more metaphysical “form.” The paintings in this exhibition represent the dual and contradictory aspects of this transformation, physically with their extreme differences in width, as well as embodying both the pathos and grandeur that the title suggests.

In the four large-scale paintings on view – each measuring 8 x 5 1/2 feet – Guertin creates arching, prismatic ovals. Here, luminous blocks of color in hues of yellow, red, green, grey, blue, and pink are sectioned across eggshell smooth surfaces. With the addition of linear ellipses, the ovoid forms are transformed into elementary portraits. In a contrapuntal and reflexive act, the paintings stare out at us as we look back at them. Because of their grand scale, the paintings function as both figurative representation – however abstract – and as an immersive portal that envelops the viewer. Guertin reduces the canvas to a width of 2.75 inches in two additional works on view, effectively collapsing the heads into a narrow linear space. By severely reducing the surface area, Guertin allows for other anthropomorphic forms – here, the worm – to emerge.

In each case, Guertin’s use of color, line, and form highlight the flat surface of the canvas and its structural support. Guertin references imagery from digital platforms, using related technicolor geometry and emotive cartoon-like heads. The result is a meticulous spectrum of color shifts that engage the optical experience and self-reflexivity. While the architecture of the paintings appears immovable, these ambiguous forms radiate feelings of calm, civility, and openness. The resulting corporeal presence is at once imposing and inviting.

Heather Guertin lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She received her Master of Fine Arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2008. Recent solo exhibitions include The Whole, Galería Agustina Ferreyra, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Aluminum Linoleum, Proyectos Monclova, Mexico City; Development, Brennan & Griffin, New York and Heand, Interstate, Brooklyn. Notable group exhibitions include Intimisms, James Cohan Gallery, New York; Long Instant Short Hour, Thomas Duncan Gallery, Los Angeles and Addicted to Highs and Lows, Bortolami, New York among others. She has performed in locations such as White Columns in New York and in conjunction with the Carnegie International in Pittsburgh. In 2013 Guertin published a novella titled Model Turned Comedian with Social Malpractice and Publication Studio and in 2015 a monograph of her works was published by Hassla Books.