NYAB Event - Amber Boardman “Sitcom Studies”

Amber Boardman “Sitcom Studies”

Ivy Brown Gallery

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Art Pow Wow presents its inaugural solo exhibition of new paintings by Sydney-based American artist Amber Boardman. Boardman’s paintings will be the first exhibition of a solo artist ‘in-the-flesh.’ The artist will present a body of new paintings in Sitcom Studies, and will attend the opening reception.

Boardman’s mythic depictions of human fates and foibles prove her to be a subtle trickster. She seduces the viewer by improvising with juicy wet-into-wet paint, eye-catching jewel-like hues and earthy, fleshy tonalities. Her imagery - at once desirable and wryly repugnant - taps into the ‘universal toddler’ in all of us by flagrantly testing our attitudes to the boundaries of acceptable behavior, and then - with evident sympathetic fondness for her characters - offers comforting distance through cartoon-like form. Her pictures skew and flatten perspective into fabulous patterns and impossible angles to propel narrative’s capabilities. “I’m not afraid to put it all out there… my paintings are like going down a rabbit hole - I make the first mark and then follow it to see where it all will lead,” she says.

In Conspicuous Relaxing (2015) and Uneven Tanning Bed (2015), women’s bodies are stretched out and opened up - exhibited, transgressed and misshapen. Intimacy is made public domain. Shining a bright light on accepted First World norms, like leisure time as creative self-expression, or body image as a true reflection of the self, Boardman plays with the humor and pathos of self-consciousness and social status. Makeup Bus Commute (2015) was inspired by one of Boardman’s bus rides during Sydney rush hour: the artist observed a young woman, “applying her entire makeup routine from foundation to mascara,” during the commute. “I feel it’s important to document these odd, partly grotesque, partly endearing aspects of everyday life - they shouldn’t be lost.”

For Sitcom Studies, Boardman continues to build a cast of characters inhabiting a world unto themselves. Her proto-persons play at various roles and attempt to follow the rules, however, in the end, their super wackiness allows them only a small degree of free will, leaving them consigned to destiny’s whims.

Amber Boardman (born 1981, Portland, Maine) has exhibited her paintings and animation throughout the US, Australia and internationally. Her work was included in Sydney Contemporary (2015) and BAM’s Next Wave Festival (2010). She is represented by Edwina Corlette Gallery (Brisbane). The recipient of multiple awards, most notably Most Provocative Award (Atlanta Biennial), the Australian Post-Graduate Award (University of New South Wales) and the Dame Joan Sutherland Fund Visual Arts Grant, she holds an MFA in Fine Art from the School of Visual Arts and a BFA in Studio Art from Georgia State University. Her works are held in numerous public and private collections.

Art Pow Wow is a social network and e-commerce website where selected artists can connect with an international community of artists and collectors. Established in 2015 as an alternative to the noisy social networks and unfiltered online art markets that dominate the industry, Art Pow Wow is a curated site that offers artists the opportunity to sell their art directly to collectors, meet curators, and trade their work with other artists. Art Pow Wow is also a passionate supporter of environmental conservation and will be donating 10% of the exhibition’s proceeds to Solar One, an organization dedicated to educating individuals and communities about green energy development within urban environments, sustainable living and protecting the environment.

“We’re a community-oriented project of artists, curators and collectors who embrace the notion that giving back to community is a fundamental ingredient for creative activity. We are honored to have Amber Boardman come back to New York and share her current work with us,” says Natalia Yovane, CEO and Co. Founder of Art Pow Wow.