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Robert Hardgrave - Momentous @ Joshua Liner 1/9/10, by JoshuaLinerGallery on Jan 4, 2010 23:59:26 GMT 1, Our first show of 2010 includes a new solo exhibit titled 'Momentous' from Seattle based artist Robert Hardgrave.
Sample images and press release attached below.
Please contact the gallery if you would like to receive the preview for this show.
Joshua Liner Gallery is pleased to present Momentous, an exhibition of new mixed-media paintings by the Seattle-based artist Robert Hardgrave. This is Hardgraveโs second solo show with the gallery.
The fourteen works on exhibit feature Hardgraveโs unique vocabulary of marks and symbols that are at once abstract and intensely personal. Working in acrylic on canvas, sewn collage, and paper, the artist builds up images from expressive mark-making and complex shapes. Curved and scalloped lines are repeated and multiplied in arched or wave-like groupings, an additive process that creates dynamic, flowing atmospheres and phantasmagoric figures. This intricate imagery is informed by Hardgraveโs experience of illness and recovery, and further inspired by reflections on reincarnation and the possibility of life after death.
Plexus, a roughly 5-x-9-foot acrylic-on-canvas painting, is Hardgraveโs largest work to date and exemplifies the artistโs distinct blend of symbolism and abstraction. The pictureโs wide expanse suggests a dynamic struggle between light and dark, life and death, with swirling masses of dark blue and white meeting in the center of the pictorial field. This cosmic atmosphere is punctuated with wing shapes, diaphanous hand forms, and disembodied eyes. By contrast, Black Mass Mask is a tight, 20โ tondo of dark, fist-like forms with flashes of red and ochre, created in sewn collage with painted Japanese papers. Pan, a medium-sized acrylic-on-canvas painting introduces open passages of ribboned space, intensifying the relationship of figure and ground.
Hardgrave's calligraphic approach to mark-making takes inspiration from the miniature-painting traditions of the Near- and Far East. Yet he succeeds in creating a truly distinct, organic, and personal system of textures and forms. Described by the artist as "countenances of spirits," these works suggest that spirit "portraits" may have more in common with abstract expressionism than traditional figuration.
Plexus
Acrylic on canvas
2009
63 x 112 in.
Collar
Acrylic on canvas
2009
30 x 40 in.
Black Mass Mask
Acrylic and sewn collage with paper
2009
30 x 30 in.
Our first show of 2010 includes a new solo exhibit titled 'Momentous' from Seattle based artist Robert Hardgrave. Sample images and press release attached below. Please contact the gallery if you would like to receive the preview for this show. Joshua Liner Gallery is pleased to present Momentous, an exhibition of new mixed-media paintings by the Seattle-based artist Robert Hardgrave. This is Hardgraveโs second solo show with the gallery. The fourteen works on exhibit feature Hardgraveโs unique vocabulary of marks and symbols that are at once abstract and intensely personal. Working in acrylic on canvas, sewn collage, and paper, the artist builds up images from expressive mark-making and complex shapes. Curved and scalloped lines are repeated and multiplied in arched or wave-like groupings, an additive process that creates dynamic, flowing atmospheres and phantasmagoric figures. This intricate imagery is informed by Hardgraveโs experience of illness and recovery, and further inspired by reflections on reincarnation and the possibility of life after death. Plexus, a roughly 5-x-9-foot acrylic-on-canvas painting, is Hardgraveโs largest work to date and exemplifies the artistโs distinct blend of symbolism and abstraction. The pictureโs wide expanse suggests a dynamic struggle between light and dark, life and death, with swirling masses of dark blue and white meeting in the center of the pictorial field. This cosmic atmosphere is punctuated with wing shapes, diaphanous hand forms, and disembodied eyes. By contrast, Black Mass Mask is a tight, 20โ tondo of dark, fist-like forms with flashes of red and ochre, created in sewn collage with painted Japanese papers. Pan, a medium-sized acrylic-on-canvas painting introduces open passages of ribboned space, intensifying the relationship of figure and ground. Hardgrave's calligraphic approach to mark-making takes inspiration from the miniature-painting traditions of the Near- and Far East. Yet he succeeds in creating a truly distinct, organic, and personal system of textures and forms. Described by the artist as "countenances of spirits," these works suggest that spirit "portraits" may have more in common with abstract expressionism than traditional figuration. Plexus Acrylic on canvas 2009 63 x 112 in. Collar Acrylic on canvas 2009 30 x 40 in. Black Mass Mask Acrylic and sewn collage with paper 2009 30 x 30 in. |
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