Paintings in the Sky
27 Nov 2009 - 10 Jan 2010
© Florian Meisenberg,
From the series: The Vison of Tomorrow, 2009
Oil on unstretched canvas
200 x 260 cm
From the series: The Vison of Tomorrow, 2009
Oil on unstretched canvas
200 x 260 cm
PAINTINGS IN THE SKY
Dan McCarthy, Keegan McHargue, Florian Meisenberg, Luke Rudolf
27 November 2009 - 10 January 2010
'Paintings in the Sky' brings together four artists whose paintings edge towards realism by way of the implausible. Fantastical colour palettes, unfeasible scenarios and mysterious symbolism contribute to dreamscapes that offer clues to, yet ultimately withhold, meaning. The title of the show refers to Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights' a phenomenon of physics that finds form in operatic displays of light and colour, which throughout history and certain mythologies have been attributed far-fetched potencies and origins, including the Roman goddess of dawn announcing the day. The artists here seem to tap into such systems of inventive, even psychedelic, concoction, where the everyday is imbued with magical import and reconfigured in high-key imagery that speaks of metaphysics and sensation.
Dan McCarthy's recurring motifs are the most stable element in his paintings, where human skin turns blue and faces blend into patterning and paint. Florian Meisenberg, meanwhile, removes recognisable objects from their usual contexts to maroon them in the picture plane: unpopulated hats, dismembered noses and soldiers marching on wallpaper seem like scenes from a novel where bewilderment reigns. Pictorial space is rendered as perspective-defying stage sets for an un-producable play in Keegan McHargue's surreal, architecturally anchored compositions; and Luke Rudolf's large heads, shattered by geometry and made vivid through large, digitised super-saturated brush strokes, become portraits where identity is psychotropically submerged.
DAN MCCARTHY born in Honolulu, Hawaii, 1962, lives and works in New York.
Recent solo exhibitions include: Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam, 2009 and Anton Kern Gallery, New York, 2007. He has also recently shown in Mail Order Monsters at Andreas Melas Presents, Athens, 2008 and Silicon Valley at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Centre and Deste Foundation, Athens, 2007.
KEEGAN MCHARGUE born in Portland, Oregon, 1982, lives and works in New York.
Recent solo exhibitions include: Well Charged Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, 2008; Bubble Eyes, Hiromi Yoshii, Tokyo and The Yellow Spectrum, Jack Hanley Gallery, San Francisco. Recent group exhibitions include New York Minute: 60 artists from the New York Scene, MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome, 2009; Imaginary Realities: Constructed Worlds in Abstract and Figurative Paintings, Max Wigram Gallery, London, 2008.
FLORIAN MESIENBERG born in Berlin, 1980, lives and works in Düsseldorf.
He has a solo exhibition at Tanja Pol Gallery in Munich until 23 January 2010. Upcoming and recent group shows include: Hunger, Columbia University, New York, 2009, and Life is a funny old dog, Tanja Pol Gallery, 2008.
LUKE RUDOLF born Redhill, UK, 1977, lives and works in London.
He has graduated this year from the MFA Art Practice, Goldsmiths College, London.
Recent group shows include: Sefton Open, Atkinson Gallery, Liverpool, 2009 and the annual RCA Secret, Royal College of Art, London, in 2008, 2006 and 2005.
Dan McCarthy, Keegan McHargue, Florian Meisenberg, Luke Rudolf
27 November 2009 - 10 January 2010
'Paintings in the Sky' brings together four artists whose paintings edge towards realism by way of the implausible. Fantastical colour palettes, unfeasible scenarios and mysterious symbolism contribute to dreamscapes that offer clues to, yet ultimately withhold, meaning. The title of the show refers to Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights' a phenomenon of physics that finds form in operatic displays of light and colour, which throughout history and certain mythologies have been attributed far-fetched potencies and origins, including the Roman goddess of dawn announcing the day. The artists here seem to tap into such systems of inventive, even psychedelic, concoction, where the everyday is imbued with magical import and reconfigured in high-key imagery that speaks of metaphysics and sensation.
Dan McCarthy's recurring motifs are the most stable element in his paintings, where human skin turns blue and faces blend into patterning and paint. Florian Meisenberg, meanwhile, removes recognisable objects from their usual contexts to maroon them in the picture plane: unpopulated hats, dismembered noses and soldiers marching on wallpaper seem like scenes from a novel where bewilderment reigns. Pictorial space is rendered as perspective-defying stage sets for an un-producable play in Keegan McHargue's surreal, architecturally anchored compositions; and Luke Rudolf's large heads, shattered by geometry and made vivid through large, digitised super-saturated brush strokes, become portraits where identity is psychotropically submerged.
DAN MCCARTHY born in Honolulu, Hawaii, 1962, lives and works in New York.
Recent solo exhibitions include: Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam, 2009 and Anton Kern Gallery, New York, 2007. He has also recently shown in Mail Order Monsters at Andreas Melas Presents, Athens, 2008 and Silicon Valley at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Centre and Deste Foundation, Athens, 2007.
KEEGAN MCHARGUE born in Portland, Oregon, 1982, lives and works in New York.
Recent solo exhibitions include: Well Charged Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, 2008; Bubble Eyes, Hiromi Yoshii, Tokyo and The Yellow Spectrum, Jack Hanley Gallery, San Francisco. Recent group exhibitions include New York Minute: 60 artists from the New York Scene, MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome, 2009; Imaginary Realities: Constructed Worlds in Abstract and Figurative Paintings, Max Wigram Gallery, London, 2008.
FLORIAN MESIENBERG born in Berlin, 1980, lives and works in Düsseldorf.
He has a solo exhibition at Tanja Pol Gallery in Munich until 23 January 2010. Upcoming and recent group shows include: Hunger, Columbia University, New York, 2009, and Life is a funny old dog, Tanja Pol Gallery, 2008.
LUKE RUDOLF born Redhill, UK, 1977, lives and works in London.
He has graduated this year from the MFA Art Practice, Goldsmiths College, London.
Recent group shows include: Sefton Open, Atkinson Gallery, Liverpool, 2009 and the annual RCA Secret, Royal College of Art, London, in 2008, 2006 and 2005.