IN FROM THE COLD: September 28 – October 21, 2012
"In From the Cold" features artists Brian Hubble, James Powers, Madeleine Reyna, Marian Brunn Smith, and Winslow Smith, all recently deployed in New York. The show includes metal enamel paintings of Donald the Duck, tense observational oil sketches, curved aluminum wall structures, floor to ceiling inkjet prints, and an illuminated photograph of a Lincoln Memorial ornament (from behind). At heart, the works address the variables of production and even the making of the gallery itself. They break free of a belabored, point-by-point approach to painting. The artists find autonomy in the economies of their respective neighborhoods through close observation and the manipulation of materials at hand. How does one translate these parameters in the confines of a NYC gallery space? Herein lies the challenge of the PG project.
Brian Hubble was born in 1978 in Newport News, Virginia. He completed his MFA at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011 and now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. His works have been exhibited internationally in Canada and Hong Kong as well as in New York, Chicago and Richmond. His work comes in the form of various media and blurs the line between reality and imagination, with a reminder to be wary of a culture constantly barraged with information. Using humor as an entry point, Hubble challenges notions of authorship and appropriation.
James Powers was born in 1986 in Wicklow, Ireland. He received his BA from Harvard College in 2008 and completed his MFA at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011. He now lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Powers has exhibited his work internationally as well as in New York and Chicago. His illustrations have also been featured in a handful of publications. His use of industrial materials, particularly aluminum for this show, emphasizes his interest in the fusion of a skilled hand coupled with the manufactured.
Madeleine Reyna was born in 1987 in Raleigh, NC. She received her BA from the College of Charleston in 2009 and will receive her MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2013. Her work has been exhibited in both Charleston and Chicago, where she is currently based. Reyna’s works burst with colorful eruptions of paint, infusing energy and brightness.
Marian Brunn Smith was born in 1980 in Schenectady, NY. She attended Yale University, where she received her BA in painting in 2002. In 2007, she received her MFA in painting from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has had group shows in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia, California and New York City. Currently, she lives and works in Brooklyn. Her works on paper range from ethereal and abstract to figurative and bold. The vignettes offer visual fragmentations that rely on the imagination.
Winslow Smith was born in Niskayuna, NY. He received his BA from Boston University in 2006 and completed his MFA at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2012. He currently lives and works in New York City. His works have been exhibited throughout New York and Chicago and range in both media and message. A consistent thread in Smith’s work remains a commitment – and commentary – on the art historical traditions of political work, text-based works, and the incorporation of the body.
