Wednesday, September 1, 2021

BOUNTY Exhibition September 1 - November 30, 2021

 


Rhombus Space is pleased to present BOUNTY featuring work by artists, Enrico Gomez, Rachael Gorchov, Adam Novak, Jean Rim, Corrie Slawson, Karla Wozniak, Holly Wong, and Etty Yaniv. 


Emerging from the heightened alertness and sense of worry that accompanied the earlier part of the pandemic, NYC is starting to return to some sort of normal that includes things that feel familiar. There is a hunger for connection and a semblance of life before the pandemic. BOUNTY is a celebration of making it through the hardest part. It is the fall harvest, the fruits of earlier seeds planted. Some artists have developed entirely new bodies of work because of the pandemic, while others have unearthed dormant ones that they were now ready to complete. The artists in this show manifest in themselves the bountifulness that is present in their studio work. They are generous in their other art roles as curators, writers, and educators. There is a giving quality to these artists and to their work. 


Etty Yaniv is an example of someone whose work reflects her nimble ability to balance chaos and order through her multifaceted work as an artist. Yaniv’s thick, nature-inspired mixed media paintings feel sculptural in their effusive layering of paint and other materials like stucco and plastic. Jean Rim’s paintings are also physical. Inspired by the energetic nourishing potential of art, she incorporates crystals and flowers into her work. Inspired by mandalas, chakras, and altars, Rim references nature directly, and at times symbolically by making fish scales-like carved marks on painting surfaces symbolizing the Little Mermaid’s loss for her transition to land, as an analogy to the immigrant experience.


Corrie Slawson makes narrative paintings that depict species gone extinct and those threatened by Climate Change. Contrasting elements of luxury and nature, Slawson integrates silk-screened collage elements to reference and challenge the authority of the European Master’s painting tradition. Karla Wozniak’s work deals with narrative in a more personal way. Reflecting on the major shift of work/personal space that many people experienced during the pandemic, Wozniak makes paintings based on a drawing practice that forms the bases of a personal lexicon of symbols evoking a sense of time passing, memory, and physical transformations.


Rachael Gorchov has been making Zoom drawings during the pandemic that have become, “just out of recognizable range,” sources for her paintings. Gorchov explores the relationship between form and space with color intensity and gestural brushstrokes. In her past work, the viewer moved at unusual angles around sculptures that punctuated the gallery space. Now the figure resides in the literal space of the painting partially and interacts with the floating forms of color. Adam Novak’s recent work explores the figure in motion. The works on view are part of a series that deconstruct and reconstruct the archetype of the runner. In Novak’s works, the figure is both concealed and revealed by bold gestural brushstrokes. Through their work, Novak and Gorchov both challenge the serious solemnity of Abstract Expression .


Erico Gomez’s work is influenced by letterform and graphic design. He started his Cuervo series a few years ago but decided to finish it only now while recuperating from a severe Covid-19 infection. In Spanish, ‘Cuervo’ means ‘crow,’ and Gomez wanted to harness the strength of the creature during his convalescence. In doing so he explored how the crow represents intelligence, trickery, and access to mystic secrets, as well as transformation. Holly Wong creates work to summon protection and celebrate female energy. She uses materials that are simultaneously strong and fragile. Wong makes work that also explores the mythical and mystical. She considers finished work to be connected to eternal energy and life force - and sees her studio practice as a way to find the sacred.


Looking at the artists' work through the lens of expansive, optimistic, and generous expression. BOUNTY is the third in an installment of online exhibitions that connect artists working in different regions of the country. The curatorial concept is to invite 4 artists who in turn invite 4 more artists to make a show of 8 artists, linked in a cultural dialogue about art in our time. In this way, Rhombus Space seeks to find connections between different artists and their work in new ways. 


BOUNTY will be featured September 1 - November 30, 2021. For more information please visit: www.rhombusspace.com and @rhombusspace For inquiries please email: rhombusspace@gmail.com Find more of the artists' work on Instagram:

@enricorichardgomez @rachaelgorchov @adamstephennovak @djinirim @corrieslawson @karla_wozniak @hollywongart @etty.yaniv