November 12 - December 3, 2015
Recent Paintings: Hilda O’Connell and John Beardman
2 X 6 X 12: Drawing Show
Carter Burden Gallery presents two new exhibitions: Recent Paintings in the east gallery featuring Hilda O’Connell and John Beardman, and 2 X 6 X 17 Drawing Show in both the west gallery and the On the Wall space featuring 17 artists. The opening reception will be held November 12, 2015 from 6 – 8 PM. The exhibition runs through December 3rd at 548 West 28th Street in New York City. The Gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday, 11am-5pm, Saturday 11am-6pm.
Hilda O'Connell
In Recent Paintings, New York City-based artists Hilda O’Connell and John Beardman present powerful abstract paintings reflecting a commitment to paint, color, and form. This is Hilda O’Connell’s second exhibition and John Beardman’s first exhibition at the Carter Burden Gallery. The two-person exhibition explores the dialogue between free expression and masterful technique.
Language begins as the primary subject of O’Connell’s paintings. A range of influences inspires the artist; from James Joyce’s Ulysses to the aesthetics of medieval illuminated manuscripts. O'Connell also explores the unintelligible speech of glossolalia or speaking in tongues. For the artist, this is understood as "beyond reason." O’Connell often initiates her painting process with a large stencil letter. She then works instinctively adding random marks and clusters of fragmented letters, and using disruptive techniques such as collage. The artist states that the resulting paintings “represent freedom of choice in an indeterminate world, and opens possibilities otherwise smothered by calculation.”
John Beardman
Beardman's work is a personal expression of remembered visual phenomena. His forms are loosely referential to everyday objects such as flowers and trees. The artist is guided by his impulses to understand the world in front of him by using his canvas and paint. These urges become physical actions of adding, pouring, and scraping away. For the artist, painting is a way to catch or sieve time. Beardman states, "Painting is for me a means of experiencing myself and giving form to that experience. Time and thought stop for me. My job is to make them stop for you."
2 X 6 X 12 Drawing Show
This exhibition features many of the artists that have previously shown at the Carter Burden Gallery: Myrna Burks, David Cerulli, Liz Curtin, Lynn Gall, Lindsay, Robert Ludwig, Carol Massa, Thomas McAnulty, Susan Newmark, Charles Ramsburg, Vera Sapozhnikova, Angela Valeria, Jerry Vezzuso, Ellen Wallenstein, and Arnold Wechsler.
Scale is arguably one of the most significant defining factors of a work of art. It influences how both the artist and the viewer interact with the piece. Artwork that is roughly life-sized is an immersive experience that challenges the viewer to connect on a level of obligatory intimacy.
The artists in this show were asked to create a drawing that would be exactly 6 feet high by 2 feet wide. Each artist responded to the medium and size parameters in their own unique way. Some artists began with the specific size requirement, some began with a larger size that they cut down, and others began smaller. The resulting life-sized works collectively test what is typically conceived of as drawing.
