Group exhibition - LINE AND VERSE : Stockholm

Andréhn-Schiptjenko is proud to present a group show curated by Ridley Howard with the following artists: Ellen Berkenblit, Michael Berryhill, Brian Calvin, Milano Chow, Holly Coulis, Louis Fratino, EJ Hauser, Ridley Howard, Loie Hollowell, Veronika Pausova, Alan Prazniak, Eleanor Ray, Lui Shtini, Tracy Thomason, John Wesley and Mitchell Wright.  

Line and Verse consists of the work of 16 artists working in the US, primarily in painting and drawing. The artists span generations, and the modestly scaled works in this show vary in approach and historical lineage. Ranging from non-objective geometry to pop influenced image realities, there are subtle relationships between works and thinking. Perhaps most clearly, all of the artists consciously deal, in some way, with the architecture and structure of subjective space. The logic of its construction is in service to some kind of experience within the rectangle, playing on the tradition of pictures as an alternate reality, painting as a window on a wall.

Central to the works is the manner in which spaces are crafted, considered, framed, and shuffled. It can be a stylized directive from the artist, or a sly disruption of expectation. This goes beyond simple formal arrangement, to a sort of metaphysical expression (Metaphysical, literally meaning After Physical, somehow fits). Order, disorder, juxtaposition, and symmetry are all employed as a means to an end, and sometimes the end itself.

At first glance, the work has a clear link to historical precedent and genre. Portraiture, Landscape, Still-life, Abstraction are employed with contemporary perspective. Connections to pop culture, photography, cinema, design are embedded in language and tone. Themes ranging from the spiritual, emotional, and sensual are addressed with wit and nimbleness.

The show was organized by Ridley Howard, a painter represented by Andréhn-Schiptjenko and currently living between Athens, GA and Brooklyn, NY. He is a co-founder of the gallery 106 Green in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.