Press Release
Opening Reception: Saturday, January 16, 6–8PM
Closing Reception: Saturday, February 27, 4-6pm
Hosted by Kristen Dodge
info@kristendodge.com
I read somewhere that Greta Garbo went to New York to be alone. With winters like these, can we really blame her? You have to keep the old Dixie Doorbell close, a warm body strapped to the leg. That cold thinking creeps in and sets up shop, a grey fuzz that blows over the mind, like sugary wisps that tumble over the lawn and cover it by seven. Spike driver blues really takes hold around February, when all the days seem to feel like Sunday. We know that lighting, we know it best.
–Ted Gahl
In “Hibernation Anxiety,” Gahl continues to push his interest in creating works in various modes, all of them rooted in drawing. Sketches that appear are both recent and mined from the past. Large paintings depict the rushing commuter- a silhouette of a traipsing worker that slinks along the canvas, making appearances at different stages. Angles and points of view shift, and the simple character undergoes a transformation. Limbs, features, and minute extremities are starting points for casual paint addition, only to lead the eye into distorted end points of vague landscapes. A loss of perspective within the drone of habits. A loss of clarity in the dead of winter.
Other mixed-media works employ both found objects as well as traditional art making materials. A suet cake, the bird feed used for winter months, sits encased in clay inside of its feeder tray. The green, gridded metal box becomes a small prison for an already unattainable gratification. The slotted links have been used as guides to mold the facing layer into an endless series of angular hallways reminiscent of animation stills and simple depth drawing exercises. A wood building beam has been positioned in the space to act as a stand-in for a support more fitting to the cage. An obstruction necessitates movement.
This exhibition will run concurrently with Nicole Cherubini, the love tapes , a retrospective at 711 Warren Street.
For further information please, contact info@kristendodge.com