I am pleased to present toi•lette, the first NYC solo presentation of my art. The exhibition is comprised of theatrics in painting and painted textiles with literal and suggested examples of the home, the studio, the figure, the utilitarian, astrology and the extracurricular in correspondence with formal abstraction and generalized realism. The title is derived from a painting depicting a perfume bottle that is formulated by a stacking of 2 compositions in Rothko-ian fashion, a nod to Duchamp and the plausibility that art itself has become a readymade and or simply the daily routine of cleansing myself out of a slop sink to live, work and present an art exhibition.
83 Canal #200
NY, NY 10002
June 1st - June 27th
Open by appointment Tuesday- Saturday 11-4
Tel.3236005731 or Building Intercom No.200
toi•lette begins with a series of 7 formal abstract compositions depicting houses or sheds, bisected by a strip of wood and topped with hand made and painted wooden triangular / skeletal roofs akin to minimalism and architecture. As visitors navigate the space left to right the translation of abstract painting as utilitarian function continues with the aforementioned perfume bottle “toi•lette“ composition and a hand painted Pierre Cardin dress shirt “WAITER” slouched over a designer chair given to me for the site. With interests still pertaining to the mixture of the figural and abstract, a portrait of “Liberal with Headphones” or “Walkman” hovers above the textile and chair in a polka dot background and in double family frames. Continuing an engagement with abstract painting as a proposal to embody an everyday object, 3 stacked compositions formulate “LIGHTER” as a singular representation of a purple lighter floating and in flux.
Perhaps the most direct or literal approach to the site and these varying interests in painting can be found shifting and hanging in the windows of the space in 4 brand new “generalized realism” / “BLOCK” paintings on canvas and rods previously used as curtains now stretched portraying images of the exterior cinder block and brick filled windows from the neighboring building. They are flanked with figural and abstract works painted on formalist and collaged grounds hung on brick columns and double framed in found and artist lattice frames. The window paintings descend getting smaller by half scale through each window, ultimately ending up with a small and very narrow painting of the exterior environment and a larger view of the environment itself with machinery and pigeons and reveals a previous tenant’s sticker on a window that reads “Transmission of Cosmic Energy” . The series and installment are proposals for painting as conceptual art and or site specific and navigate as an outside / inside scale predicament. It’s essentially a series of paintings commenting on the fashionability of hyper realism with the paintings appearing more as illustrated or potentially believable props of cinder blocks becoming steps descending into space.
The show nears completion with a Fender Guitar and gear in the corner amongst newly finished “unknown portraits” or “commissary paintings” processed during the early pandemic, but started in Missouri, Los Angeles and NY in 2019 with titles like “Remedy Man”, “Liberal with Black Eye” and “Colonel Sanders / 1,000,000” all punctuated with a fluorescent violet circular monochrome painting of a muted cursive painted “Cancer” my sun sign hanging below almost as a cliche or handmade emoji.
Finally a hand painted lab coat “PRIMARY” is presented and appropriately titled as it dotes the primary colors while hanging above with a towel adjacent to the storied slop sink that came with the studio and a rubber made tote with yellow towel where I rinse daily. While exiting visitors will see stacked suitcases, boxed inventory and supplies with “CLUTCH” a painting of a suitcase or bag with a found image from Roosevelt Park of white hands holding a partial golf club hanging above and framed in bright orange with multiple latticed and painted paint sticks atop the image. It is the only work directly referencing the surrounding neighborhood or daily and future exits of the site and the social and class structures including a drug pandemic apparent at the edges of Delancey and Forsyth.
The exhibition harnesses and extrapolates models of post or nomadic studio practices or potentially a post or borrowed gallery narrative or template without negative connotations. It references earlier projects on the margins of the market and playfulness with art production and presentation such as Kim Gordon’s Design Office, Claus Oldenburg’s Storefront and Showroom projects and David Hammon’s street performances. I contextualize it as a site and presentation that can and can’t be a studio, residence and gallery simultaneously. However, a Japanese mattress minimally covered rests in the middle of the space on a large vintage rug perhaps suggesting that art as is life is commonplace.
noun: toi•lette
the process of washing oneself, dressing, and attending to one’s appearance.
“Emily got up to begin her morning toilette”
: formal or fashionable attire or style of dress
: a particular costume or outfit
Perfume or cologne reference : a spray composition with five to 15 percent pure perfume essence dissolved in alcohol.
Belgian : the lavatory