ALLISON SPENCE | SPREAD
JIM LEACH | HOT WATER
Hamiltonian is pleased to present two new bodies of work by artists Allison Spence and Jim Leach. The exhibitions will run concurrently from April 2 – May 7, 2016 with an opening reception on Saturday, April 2 from 7–9pm.
Allison Spence presents an installation of paintings, archival matter, and video in her latest exhibition Spread. Drawing parallels between Tomie—a Japanese horror manga with an infinitely regenerative femme fatale as its protagonist—and Pando—a prodigious and clonal forest colony in Utah that revitalizes itself in the wake of wildfires—Spence considers the potential for destructive acts to give rise to additive, creative, and infinite forms. Operating in a fluid space that confounds medium, language, and planarity, Spence’s work overlays reality with a gloss of its abject and sinister undercurrents.
In Hot Water, Jim Leach retraces common presumptions of artistic value and cultural worth through a new body of sculptural diptychs and readymade assemblages. Leach excavates the various echelons of creative output through a visceral questioning of meaning and morality. In traversing themes of philosophy, literature, and art history, these works posit new understandings of subjectivity, social unknowing, and ethical hierarchy veiled in an anarchic order.
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April 2 – May 7, 2016
Opening Reception:
Saturday, April 2 from 7–9pm.
Artist Talk:
Jim Leach in conversation with curator Robert Thurmer, Wednesday, April 13, 7 pm
Allison Spence in conversation with science writer Sam Kean, Tuesday, April 26, 7 pm
Hamiltonian Artists:
Allison Spence
Jim Leach
photos by Nicole Dowd