SOUTH OF NO NORTH EAST OF NO WEST
SOUTH OF NO NORTH EAST OF NO WEST
The studio of Valerie Brennan. Paphos, Cyprus.
AN INTRODUCTION I have always been perplexed by the phrase South of No North. The phrase, at least for me, originates with the title of the Charles Bukowski book of short stories. I remember thinking, “What exactly does it mean?� To me, it implies that you are always moving forward, looking for answers, pushing the boundaries. The artists in this show were chosen for that reason. Each is constantly exploring his or her medium while creating a mature body of work. They have a constant dialogue with their work and with the contemporary artworld at large. The notion that artists from all over the world can make intriguing, thought provoking work regardless of their location is central to this exhibition.
Photo: Andy Ryan
KY ANDERSON Ky Anderson (b. 1973, Kansas City, MO) is an American artist. Her paintings are personal narratives of layered forms, colored washes and line work that illustrates the visible and invisible connections between the weights, pulls and supports of the landscape around us. Recent exhibitions include solo shows at Frosch & Portmann in New York, and Dolphin Gallery in Kansas City, along with numerous group shows in the US and Europe. She is the founder and curator of Dusk Series and Editions. Anderson currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
TRANSPARENT TOWER (2014). Oil on panel. 18 x 15 in.
KY ANDERSON DARK GLOW (2014). Oil on canvas. 10 x 10 in.
Photo: Robin Stout
PAUL BEHNKE Paul Behnke was born in Memphis, TN and received a BFA in Painting from the Memphis College of Art. Behnke’s work has been exhibited widely in the United States and internationally including shows in New York, Cyprus, London and Dublin. Recently his work was seen in Form and Facture: Painting and Sculpture from New York at the Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery at Stony Brook University. He has attended residencies at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT and the Sam and Adele Golden Foundation for the Arts in New Berlin, NY. Behnke lives in Manhattan and maintains a studio in Brooklyn.
PHANTOM (2013). Acrylic on canvas. 18x18 in.
PAUL BEHNKE BLUE-GREEN PORTAL (2013). Acrylic on canvas. 18 x 18 in
Photo: Lorna Milburn
KARL BIELIK Working on a multitude of paintings at a time, Karl Bielik’s brew of abstractions are developed in batches. Irregular canvases cover his studio walls and floors, where he shifts from one painting to another, experimenting playfully with mark making. Formal lines taken from photographs and diagrams contrast loose oily wounds, thick emulsions offset light glazes and dribbles. In contrast to this emotive imagery, banal solitary words form Bielik’s titles, tempering and balancing the melancholy character of his paintings. His work has been in numerous shows at home and abroad, most notably The Marmite, Creekside and Lexmark Art Prizes in the U.K.
WAY (2014). Oil on panel. 14 x 11 in.
KARL BIELIK FOREGROUIND (2014). Oil on linen. 18 x 16 in.
VALERIE BRENNAN Valerie Brennan is an Irish artist living in Cyprus. She has exhibited widely internationally including solo exhibitions in Mexico City, with The Giampietro Gallery in Connecticut and with the Apocalypse Gallery in Nicosia. Most recently her work has been exhibited in London, Amsterdam, Soil Gallery in Seattle, SCOPE New York, Parallel Art Space, Brooklyn and at the University of Springfield, Illinois. Forthcoming shows include the Torrance Art Museum in Santa Monica.
PISTE (2014). Oil & spray paint on mdf panel. 10 x 8.5 in.
VAL BRENNAN OFF PISTE (2014). Oil & spray paint on mdf panel. 10 x 8.5 in.
Photo: Šjerrysiegel.com
CLAYTON COLVIN Clayton Colvin (b. 1976) lives and works in Birmingham, AL. He received his BA in Art History from New York University in 1999 and his MFA in painting from the University of Alabama in 2005. His work has been exhibited by galleries and museums across the United States including the Birmingham Museum of Art (Birmingham, AL), the Mobile Museum of Art (Mobile, AL), and Artist Space (New York, NY) amongst others. Recent solo exhibitions include Margaret Thatcher Projects (New York, NY), beta pictoris gallery (Birmingham, AL), Launch F18 (New York, NY) and the University of Memphis Art Museum (Memphis, TN). Colvin’s work is included in the public collections of the High Museum of Art (Atlanta, GA), The Birmingham Museum of Art (Birmingham, AL), and the Mobile Museum of Art (Mobile, Al). Reviews of his work have appeared in Art Forum, Art in America, San Francisco Arts Quarterly, ARTPAPERS and many others.
FAST ASLEEP (2014). Acrylic, pigment, ink, & graphite on linen over panel. 20 x 16 in.
CLAYTON COLVIN SPEED OF DARK (2014). Acrylic, pigment, ink, & graphite on linen over panel. 20 x 16 in.
BRIAN CYPHER Brian Cypher is a self taught artist, living and working in Skagit Valley, Washington. Born 1974 in Yuma, AZ, Cypher made the Pacific Northwest his home when he was fifteen. At seventeen, he established an art studio in his small downtown locale and began building his painting practice. Over the past twenty years, Cypher has shown his artwork throughout the Northwest. In the past several years, his work has been included in exhibitions in France and New York City including two one-person exhibitions in New York City and Seattle. His works rely on an intuited abstraction that reference nature, systems, and invented forms. Cypher works with drawing, painting and printmaking.
STILTED ARCH (2013). Acrylic on panel. 18 x 14 in.
BRIAN CYPHER SHIELD (2013). Acrylic on panel. 18 x 14 in.
JAMES LAMBERT James Lambert (b.1984, Huntsville, AL) makes abstract paintings that explore gestural, modular and landscape-like modes of painting. He received his BFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design, and is presently finishing a MFA at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
LEGS (2014). Oil on canvas. 15 x 10 in.
JAMES LAMBERT MURRAY (2014). Oil on canvas. 15 x 10 in.
WILLIAM LAWLER William Lawler (b. 1986) lives and works in Huntsville, Alabama. His work is a playful mix of various mediums, using high and low end materials. His paintings are developed intuitively through the actions of creation and destruction. Through this process, he explores the tensions and boundaries within making a painting. His work has been exhibited in numerous group shows throughout North America and Europe. He studied art, advertising and American studies at The University of Alabama and has a BA from Athens State University.
SATURDAY#2 (2014). Mixed media on linen. 10 x 8 in.
WILLIAM LAWLER BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (2014). Mixed media on canvas. 12 x 12 in.
MEG LIPKE Meg Lipke lives and works in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Her 2014 solo show, Sample Narrative, at Parallel Art Space (NY) featured paintings on felt, cardboard, and paper investigating textile samples, family history, and the British painter LS Lowry. Her work has been exhibited in New York at Pocket Utopia, Centotto, Parallel Art Space, Schema Projects, and Norte Maar, Brian Morris Gallery, and was featured at Site Santa Fe in the Summer of 2014. Her work has been in group shows in London, Marseilles and Cyprus. She received a BA with Honors in Art from the University of Vermont and an MFA in Painting from Cornell University.
NORTHERN LANCASHIRE (2014). Fabric dye, acrylic and resist on linen. 8 x 12 in.
MEG LIPKE MILLWORKER (2014). Fabric dye, acrylic and resist on linen. 12 x 8 in.
Photo: Kristin Rutschman
DALE McNEIL Dale McNeil is a painter living and working in Memphis, TN. His lyrical abstract paintings explore the inherent strength and weakness of cultural and historical symbols. Because of paint’s alchemical properties it is a perfect medium to distort symbols and reexamine the complexity of tension between meaning and form. McNeil’s work has been included in numerous group exhibitions in the United States and abroad, his first solo exhibition will be in March of 2015 at Tops Gallery in Memphis, TN.
LONG LIVE DEATH VERSION 2 (2014). Oil on panel.14 x 11 in.
DALE McNEIL Long Live Death version 1 (2014). Oil on panel. 14 x 11 in.
David T Miller is a painter and high school art teacher living and working in Ambler, Pennsylvania. His work is of a non-representational nature that has been described as twangy imagery evoking thoughts of candy and toys. His work has been exhibited in Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Cyprus, and London. He has degrees from Southwest Texas State University and University of the Arts.
DAVID T MILLER
SC9(12.14). Flashe & acrylic on canvas. 4 x 6 in.
SC3(11.14). Flashe & acrylic on canvas. 4 x 6 in.
SC6(12.14). Flashe & acrylic on canvas. 8 x 10 in.
DAVID T MILLER SC3(12.14). Flashe & acrylic on canvas. 8 x 10 in.
AMY PLEASANT Amy Pleasant received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA. Her work has been exhibited in venues such as The Knoxville Museum of Art, The Weatherspoon Museum of Art, Candyland, Stockholm, Sweden, The Hunter Museum of American Art, The Birmingham Museum of Art, The Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, The Columbus Museum of Art, The Wiregrass Museum of Art, The National Museum of Women in the Arts, The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, The Mobile Museum of Art, and the U.S. Embassy, Prague, Czech Republic. Her work has been reviewed in publications such as Sculpture, The Brooklyn Rail, artforum.com, Art Papers, and Art in America. Amy Pleasant currently lives and works in Birmingham, AL and is represented by Jeff Bailey Gallery, NY and whitespace gallery, Atlanta, GA.
RECLINING HEAD (2014). Oil on canvas. 18 x 14 in.
AMY PLEASANT ENGRAVED XI (2014). Monotype, ink on paper. 9 ½ X 8 ½ in
Pete Schulte was born and raised in a country called the Midwest. He received an MFA from The University of Iowa in 2008. Recent exhibitions include a two-person show with John Dilg at Jeff Bailey Gallery in Hudson, New York, Between Moth And Flame at whitespace in Atlanta, A Letter Edged In Black at The Visual Arts Gallery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Pardon up Here at Luise Ross Gallery in New York.
PETE SCHULTE
LOVER, I’VE BEEN AWAY TOO LONG. Graphite on paper. 12 x 12 in.
His work was also included in group exhibitions at Look & Listen in Saint-Chamas, France and in Simplest Means at Jeff Bailey Gallery in New York City. Schulte has been artist-in-residence at The Atlantic Center For The Arts, Bemis Center For Contemporary Art, and Threewalls. His work has been reviewed by Art in America, Burnaway, and The New Art Examiner, among others. He currently lives and works in Tuscaloosa, where he is also the Professor of Drawing at The University of Alabama.
LOVER, I’VE BEEN AWAY TOO LONG. Graphite on paper. 12 x 12 in.
LOVER, I’VE BEEN AWAY TOO LONG. Graphite on paper. 12 x 12 in.
PETE SCHULTE THE FUNCTION OF THE STUDIO 1971. Graphite, ink, pigment,on paper.
VICKI SHER Vicki Sher lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She has been making art and exhibiting throughout the United States for over two decades. Sher’s art stems from intuitive connections to line, color, and shape, but grounds itself in personal narratives, ideas about nature, human behavior and relationships. Currently represented by frosch&portmann Gallery, NYC , her work has also been featured in NADA, Pulse and Scope art fairs in New York and Miami, as well as DUSK Editions, NYC. Vicki Sher received her B.F.A. from the Cornell University, Ithaca, NY and her M.F.A. from the University of Iowa. She is the recipient of a 2014 MacDowell Colony Fellowship award and a 2015 VCCA Fellowship.
UNTITLED (Layered cotton scrim painting #2), (2013). Acrylic on cotton scrim over pencil on paper. 18 x 15 in.
VICKI SHER UNTITLED (Layered cotton scrim painting #3). (2013). Acrylic on cotton scrim over pencil on paper. 18 x 15 in.
photo: Katarina Kocses
JULIE TORRES Julie Torres is a painter and arts organizer in NYC. Her curatorial project FOUR LOKO: Four Solos Under One Roof, featuring Austin Thomas, Christina Tenaglia, Ellen Letcher and Inga Dalrymple is currently on view at Proto Gallery in Hoboken NJ. See more of Torres’ work at julietorres. weebly.com.
DERBY DAY (2014). Acrylic on panel. 10x10 in.
JULIE TORRES X BOX (2013). Acrylic on panel. 14 x 12 in.
SABINE TRESS Sabine Tress lives and works in Cologne, Germany. She studied painting at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts den Paris from 1989-94. In 2014, her work was featured in shows in Amsterdam, Manchester, Zurich, Heidelberg, Cologne and Berlin. Sabine Tress’ paintings are charged with a sense of spontaneity and friction. The viewer is compelled to wander about in a suggestive and imaginative painted world.
UNTITLED (2013). Acrylic on canvas. 12 x 12 in.
SABINE TRESS UNTITLED (2013). Acrylic on canvas. 12 x 12 in.
REBECCA YOUNG Born in Huntsville, Alabama in 1966. Studied painting at Atlanta College of Art (SCAD). Graduated in 1988 with a BFA and continued to ilve and work in Atlanta until 2012. Rebecca currently lives and works in Huntsville.
MIDDENS (2014). Oil/oil stick on paper. 12 x 16 in.
REBECCA YOUNG ANIMISM (2014). Oil/oil stick on canvas. 30 x 30 in.
BRIAN EDMONDS Brian Edmonds (b. 1974) is an artist living in Alabama. His recent shows include the NURTUREart benefit (Manhattan), What I Like About You (Brooklyn), Sea Change (Huntsville), Do It Yourself (Brooklyn), OFF THE WALL (London), By Pleasure of Doing (Puerto Rico) and White Hours (Cyprus). His monoprints are currently available at DUSK editions in Brooklyn, NY. Brian’s work can be found throughout North America and Europe. In 2012 Brian launched the online exhibition space Curating Contemporary. Since its inception the site has hosted over 30 exhibitions. He has also maintained the Curating Contemporary blog during this time. The blog is a source for upcoming exhibitions, studio visits, and interviews he has conducted with artists. Brian’s writings and interviews can be found in the catalogue for Clayton Colvin’s Space Mountain as well as the online journal Figure/ Ground Communication.