NYAB Event - Josh Dorman "New Works"

Josh Dorman "New Works"

RYAN LEE

This event has ended.

Mary Ryan Gallery announces Josh Dorman: New Works, his second exhibition at Mary Ryan Gallery. Dorman's distinctive approach to painting combines ink, acrylic, and antique collage materials with vintage maps, and the resulting works are multi-layered narratives that resist resolution.

Dorman works almost automatically, without sketches or heavy prep time. He forms a symbiotic relationship with his materials, which enables him to avoid exerting too much control over the work: "I try to remove my hand from the process-- by pouring puddles of ink that create minute rivers and stains that dry into surprising forms, by combining antique engravings of anatomy and architecture, and by forcing accidents to happen." To this end, Dorman has started to use bits of netting, beads, bolts, and plant material as stencils, which leave unique markings on the surface once removed.

While the level of detail in his paintings seems to suggest specific intentions, Dorman seeks the same revelatory experience in creating the works that the viewer has when looking at them. Certain dualities remain constant: chaos and order, the natural and the man-made, fluidity and restraint, as well as the shift in scale from micro to macro. "The combination of excavating imagery from topographic maps and imposing found images allows me to jump in space, scale, and meaning hundreds of times within a few square inches. Scale is spiritual for me--fractal forms echo infinitely, from the microscopic to the cosmic," he says.

These new paintings incorporate more atmospheric, Turner-esque washes of paint, balancing areas of density and heavy construction. Human figures, usually scarce in Dorman's work, make several appearances in miniature as silhouettes, simplified and dwarfed by their imposing surroundings. In Thirty-five Percent, a drastically reduced pacific ocean rests between lush jungle foliage and a steady stream of monkeys making their way towards a more advanced world. A misty white cloud conceals ghostly images of gears, nets, and celestial bodies as it expands, obscuring the weathered map beneath.

Also on view is a selection of small-scale pencil drawings that Dorman draws from left to right across the paper, working with images as they emerge, unsure of what the final outcome may be. These dark, brooding images provide a contrast to the humor and whimsy so prevalent in his paintings.

Media

• Painting
• Drawing

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