Alex Kondner + Ian MacLean Davis + Linda Hesh + Bryan Rojsuontikul

Hamiltonian Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new works by Alex Kondner, Ian MacLean Davis, Linda Hesh and Bryan Rojsuontikul, opening Saturday, February 20, 2010.  Through the repetition of a particularly burdened word, object, material or image, each artist utilizes the visual residue of popular culture to address the roots of current sociopolitical mores.

In the series Evacuate, Alex Kondner trades in the seemingly nonessential physical attributes of traditional artist materials for disposable ones, such as play-sand and faux fur.  Excerpts from historical speeches and 80’s New Wave song lyrics mix to comprise the neon-colored sandy text in three paintings.  In other paintings, the repeated word “evacuate” fills the surface of the canvas while screen-printed images of apocalyptic Japanese landscapes float on top.  The contrasting elements of Kondner’s pieces bring to mind the blur of today’s frenetic visual culture.   

Ian MacLean Davis appropriates imagery from mass-produced sources drawn from fine art and pop culture.  Davis then distorts and layers these images to depict how technology and information saturation affect our memory and perception of gender.  Two paintings, Golem and Lithe, bring to mind clichéd male and female bodies from popular media.  Pours of syrupy paint are covered by overlapping threads of viscous enamel, masking an underlying image and portraying the murky lens with which the two sexes view each other.

In Words in Space, Bryan Rojsuontikul creates minimalist works by spray painting text on canvases faced with tiny foam balls that make up the underlayment of linoleum tile.  One work consists of the phrase “Art is Cancer” repeated on canvases differing only in their background colors.  Below the canvases, 80 silver floor tiles reflect the phrase back at the viewer.  Rojsuontikul relates this to the subtle evolution and growth of art, which he believes cannot be hindered or rationalized.

 

click here to download a copy of the press release

 

 

February 20 - March 20, 2010


Opening Reception:
Saturday, February 20
7-9 pm.