Bilingual: Abstract & Figurative by Bruno David Gallery

B I LIN GUA L: A BS T R AC T & F IG U RATIV E

bruno david gallery

BILINGUAL: ABSTRACT & FIGURATIVE Group Exhibition

May 29 - August 28, 2021 Bruno David Gallery 7513 Forsyth Boulevard Saint Louis, Missouri 63105, U.S.A. info@brunodavidgallery.com www.brunodavidgallery.com Founder/Director: Bruno L. David This catalogue was published in conjunction with the exhibition “Bilingual: Abstract & Figurative” at Bruno David Gallery. Editor: Bruno L. David Catalogue Designer: Nina Huang and Claire Harkins Designer Assistant: Claudia R. David Printed in USA All works courtesy of the artists and Bruno David Gallery Photographs by Bruno David Gallery Cover image: “Bilingual: Abstract & Figurative” (installation view with works by Justin Henry Miller, Andrea Stanislav, and Arny Nadler) First Edition Copyright ©2021 Bruno David Gallery All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of Bruno David Gallery

CONTENTS

ABSTRACT(ED) ART BY BUZZ SPECTOR

AFTERWORD

BY BRUNO L. DAVID CHECKLIST AND IMAGES OF THE EXHIBITION

ABSTRACT(ED) ART BY BUZZ SPECTOR

1. The Western idea of visual art is that it is almost always a translation of impressions of the physical world, on a continuum that ranges from the most realistic of figurative practices through the most abstract or nonrepresentational modes. These two endpoints are often portrayed as being in opposition. Prior to the late 19th century emergence of Modernist abstract art, the illusion of visible reality had been at the core of art-making practices, with artists getting ever more accurate in depicting real things—or people—in real spaces, until Modernism presented an apparently drastic departure from realistic depiction. The spatial logic of perspective was supplanted by a visual language of shape, form, color, and line to create compositions that could exist independently of a prior tradition of rendering recognizable things in the world. Just as the history of figurative art was often discussed in linguistic terms, like the “vocabulary” of a painter or the “syntax” of a sculptor, so did abstraction offer symbols suitable for description in terms of “language.” The conventional art-historical narrative of Modern Art presents a story of a contentious shift from figuration into non-objective abstract art, creating a gap between the two. Only in the latter part of the 20th century would this intellectual wound separating abstraction and figuration begin to mend, as artists emerged who embraced both. Today we can appreciate how the historical conflicts between the languages of figuration and abstraction ultimately enabled artists of the present moment to be “bilingual” in abstraction and figuration. Important to understanding this conflict in language is the research of George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, whose 1980 book, Metaphors We Live By (University of Chicago Press) opens with a striking reflection on the relationship between language and the world: “The essence of metaphor is understanding one kind of thing in terms of another.” Lakoff and Johnson were proponents of conceptual metaphor theory, a systematic means of examining the structure of linguistic metaphors in relation to cognition and communication. A particularly significant metaphor for artists, “self-expression,” links things fashioned in studios or on-site to a broader mode of communication in which works of art are characteristically statements being made. Just as in speech the tone of voice, or “grain,” as Roland Barthes notes, can affect the meaning of a word or the sentence in which it resides, so too with artists at their work,

generating meaning systems through pressure, velocity, gesture, sheen, and the record of labor as well as through depicting subjects in situations. In texts, the entire typographical apparatus of boldface, italics, punctuation, and spacing stand-in for recollections of verbal granularity, that is, not for actual things, but for the voice uttering their particular qualities. 2. With this in mind, I recount my experience of a 1977 installation, in a group exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago, by the Italian artist Giovanni Anselmo, associated with the Arte Povera movement of the time. This artwork consisted of twelve slide projectors, mounted to the walls and ceiling or else placed on podiums or the floor in an antechamber-type space between two larger galleries. Each Kodak Carousel projector held an identical single 35 mm slide, an image of the Italian word particolare in black typography against a white field. In English, particolare means “detail,” and this is precisely the aspect of the work missing from its material description. The lights and hum of the machines, and their slightly burnt aroma of ozone, informed those entering the space that the projectors were on, but there was nothing, apparently, to be seen beyond the faint white rectangles on the opposing architecture. A single visitor could pass through the space noting only those noises and the smell, but two or more persons in the room revealed an otherwise invisible visual element, that the focal plane of all the projectors was set for the middle of the antechamber. Seeing the word particolare materialize on someone else’s back, or arm, or knee, other visitors would check themselves for signs of language, moving around the gallery until each found their own details. These words in space inspired those who read them to perform a kind of dance, making the search for that particular reading matter a literal embodying of the word. 3. “Bilingual” refers to one capable of expression in two languages, but further clarification must acknowledge that beyond mere capability, the term applies to fluency in both tongues. The diversity of expression in the Bruno David Gallery exhibition that bears this title suggests that “Multilingual” might have been a more accurate referent to the many artistic mediums and techniques on view. The accomplishments of polymaths, however, are matters of ac-

counting more than communication. To offer speech in many tongues is quite another matter than using loanwords from several languages in single sentences. Barry Schwabsky once noted, in a Facebook posting, “The sentence is not the name of the awareness which it represents.” Sentences in sequence provide breathing room for the reader minding the textual trail through a cognitive territory. We don’t recollect that trail by naming each footfall, notwithstanding those bromides about journeys that “begin with a single step.” Schwabsky was quoting from the poet Ron Silliman, so a good way to consider what meaning is being shared here is by recognizing that some steps are more memorable than others, and the reader (Schwabsky) is taking a step off the trail (Silliman) to point out a scenic view (to the rest of us). 4. To borrow a term from poet and visual artist Caroline Bergvall, the participating artists in “Bilingual” each aspire to a certain “disfluency.” Individual methods and techniques, incorporating occlusions, erasures, stutters, repetitions, uncanny juxtapositions, eruptions (Tachisme), and many vestiges of letters and words, all to render many newly scenic views of a world we presumed we know. Even the most recognizable genre formats of portraiture and landscape are, in Bruno David’s selection, less than clinically faithful renditions of this physiognomy or that forested hillside. Among the more overtly abstract works—that is, paintings, drawings, or editions—the cognitive horizon of total nonrepresentation, the hypothetical artwork that represents only itself, is approached but never achieved. In place of demarcating a gap between the figurative and abstract in art, this exhibit offers us a shaded reappraisal of those terms in a spirit of hope.

------------------------------------i Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson. Metaphors We Live By, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980, 5. ii Speyer, A. James and Anne Rorimer, curators, “Europe in the 70’s: Aspects of Recent Art,” Art Institute of Chicago, October 8, 1977 – January 1, 1978

AFTERWORD

BY BRUNO L. DAVID

I am pleased to present a group exhibition by artists from Bruno David Gallery’s roster alongside a selection of established and emerging artists across various media. BILINGUAL: ABSTRACT & FIGURATIVE presents abstract and figurative works to showcase parallel theoretical and philosophical concerns. Visual art is almost always a translation of impressions of the physical world, on a continuum that ranges from the most realistic of figurative practices through the most abstract or nonrepresentational modes. These two endpoints are often portrayed as being in opposition. Prior to the emergence of abstract art, the illusion of visible reality had been at the core of art making practices, with artists getting ever more accurate in depicting real things--or people--in real spaces and … until modernist abstraction presented a drastic departure from realistic depictions of the physical world. Logic of perspective was replaced with a visual language of shape, form, color, and line to create compositions that could exist independently from existing things in the real world. Just as the history of figurative art was often discussed in linguistic terms, like the “vocabulary” of a painter or the “syntax” of a sculptor, so did abstraction offer symbols suitable for description as a “language.” The conventional art historical narrative of Modern Art presents a story of a contentious shift from figuration into non-objective abstract art, creating a gap between the two. Only in the later part of the 20th century would this intellectual wound separating abstraction and figuration begin to mend, as artists emerged that embraced both. Today we can appreciate how the historical conflicts between the languages of figuration and abstraction ultimately enabled artists of the present moment to be “bilingual” in abstraction and figuration. Bruno David Gallery is proud of its more than three decades of programing of presenting artists from all along this spectrum, selecting artists who have explored these theories and philosophies within their own art making practices, and those who push past the boundaries and blur the lines between abstraction and figuration Support for the creation of significant new works of art has been the core to the mission and program of the Bruno David Gallery since its moving from New York City to Saint Louis in 2005. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Buzz Spector for his thoughtful essay. I am deeply grateful to Nina Huang and Claire Harkins, who gave much time, talent, and expertise to the production of this catalogue. Invaluable gallery staff support for the exhibition was provided by Grace Ray, Zoe Scully, Nina R. Huang, Claire Harkins, and Jordan Lee.

CHECKLIST & IMAGES OF THE EXHIBITION

(Detail) 14

CHRISTINA SHMIGEL Load, 2021 Glass vitrine, wire tourist toy, cardboard, milk paint, furniture (2 elements) 42 1/2 × 24 × 17 inches 108 × 61 × 43.2 cm

DANIEL RAEDEKE Brand New Day, 2021 Acrylic and resin on panel 30 × 30 inches 76.2 × 76.2 cm

FRANK SCHWAIGER GOAT-BOY, 2021 Oolitic limestone 13 1/2 × 10 1/2 × 2 1/2 inches 34.3 × 26.7 × 6.4 cm

CHARLES P. REAY in principo, 2015; Suspicion, 2016 Collage on paper 5 x 3 inches 12.7 × 7.6 cm

CHARLES P. REAY Hugo Ball, 2015; Man Ray: Mondrian, 2015 Collage on paper 5 x 3 inches 12.7 × 7.6 cm

(Detail) 20

ANN HAMILTON near-away, 2013 Paperback book slices, cheese cloth, string (2 elements) 23 1/2 × 18 1/2 × 4 inches 59.7 × 47 × 10.2 cm

HEATHER BENNETT Ace for JLM, 2015 Archival pigment on Platine Fibre Rag paper 42 × 63 inches 106.7 × 160 cm

BEVERLY FISHMAN Untitled, 2008 Silkscreen on polished stainless steel 26 × 18 inches 66 × 45.7 cm

JUSTIN HENRY MILLER Voyeur, 2021 Acrylic and aerosol on panel 24 × 18 inches 61 × 45.7 cm

CHRIS KAHLER Morphotype 11, 2020 Acrylic and ink on panel 60 × 48 inches 152.4 × 121.9 cm

MICHAEL BYRON Engelskelch, 2019 Oil and mixed media on canvas 40 × 32 inches 101.6 × 81.3 cm

CARMON COLANGELO Magic Mountain, 2018 Archival pigment on archival canvas 61 × 44 1/2 inches 154.9 × 113 cm

JENNIFER WYNNE REEVES Place (5-16) Text, 1998 Acrylic on birch hardwood 31 1/2 × 21 1/2 inches 80 × 54.6 cm

ADRIAN ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ Curbside, 2020 Acrylic, oil, ink jet on screen printer film, marker, crayon, sticker on panel 36 × 28 × 1 1/4 inches 91.4 × 71.1 × 3.2 cm

JAMES AUSTIN MURRAY Volcano Class III, 2020 Oil on canvas mounted on board 36 × 36 inches 91.4 × 91.4 cm

JUDY CHILD Anticipation, 2019 Acrylic on canvas 30 × 30 inches 76.2 × 76.2 cm

KELLEY JOHNSON Untitled, 2021 Acrylic on board 20 × 15 in 50.8 × 38.1 cm

KELLEY JOHNSON Untitled, 2021 Acrylic on board 20 × 16 inches 50.8 × 40.6 cm

(Detail) 34

CHRIS RUBIN DE LA BORBOLLA Toxic Love, 2021 Mixed media, fiberglass mannequins, Vita plastic, collages on honeycomb board 120 × 84 × 48 inches 304.8 × 213.4 × 121.9 cm

(Detail) 36

CHARLES TURNELL Big Suit, 2020 Archival pigment print on Epson Rag canvas (12 pigment dye) mounted on board 48 × 32 inches 121.9 × 81.3 cm

YVONNE OSEI Braided in Blue, 2018 Photographic print over clear plexiglass, mounted on aluminum 40 × 30 inches 101.6 × 76.2 cm

PATRICIA OLYNYK Meridian Probe II, 2021 Archival pigment on aluminum 46 × 25 inches 116.8 × 63.5 cm

RICHARD HULL Untitled No.6, 2013 Crayon on paper 24 × 18 inches 61 × 45.7 cm

MONICA CARRIER Bowl Cut, 2017 Ink on paper mounted on board 13 1/2 × 10 × 1/2 inches 34.3 × 25.4 × 1.3 cm

BEN BROUGH Tears of Cleopatra, 2016 Acrylic and collage on canvas 24 × 20 inches 61 × 50.8 cm

BUZZ SPECTOR Writers Bloc 1, 2014 Collaged dust jacket elements on handmade paper 12 1/4 × 12 1/4 inches 31.1 × 31.1 cm

HALEIGH GIVENS Lost, 2021 Acrylic on heavy paper 13 1/2 × 20 inches 34.3 × 50.8 cm

CHRIS RUBIN DE LA BORBOLLA Adventures in Nostalgia Pt. 1, 2018 Mixed media on panel 16 × 12 inches 40.6 × 30.5 cm

MONICA CARRIER Papillae, 2017 Ink on paper mounted on cradled board 16 × 20 × 1 1/2 inches 40.6 × 50.8 × 3.8 cm

BUNNY BURSON Stain 6, 2007 Monotype, pencil and ink on paper 29 × 24 inches 73.7 × 61 cm

ARNY NADLER Firstling Study No. 32, 2020 Ink on paper 14 3/4 × 11 inches 37.5 × 27.9 cm

JUSTIN HENRY MILLER Poseidon, 2018 Acrylics with aerosol 30 × 22 inches 76.2 × 55.9 cm

ANDREA STANISLAV Dispersion / White Horse, 2014 Epoxy resin, refractive film, holographic film, digital prints 24 × 24 × 3 inches 61 × 61 × 7.6 cm

MICHAEL JANTZEN Deconstructing my Camping Chair, 2016 C-Print mounted on aluminum panel 20 x 19 inches 50.9 x 48.3 cm

LISA BULAWSKY The Doubt of Being (the obvious whole), 2020 Monotype and printed collage on Evolon 60 × 44 inches 152.4 × 111.8 cm

BARRY ANDERSON Fragments [GlassPort] 01, 2021 Archival pigment prints mounted on substrate (2 elements) 24 × 41 × 1 1/4 inches 61 × 104.1 × 3.2 cm

THOMAS SLEET Shamans House, 2018 Wood, acrylic paint, mirror 26 × 24 3/4 × 2 3/4 inches 66 × 62.9 × 7 cm

LAURA BEARD Series V(RS) Black + Grey, 2014 Mixed media on paper 23 3/4 × 20 inches 60.3 × 50.8 cm

ARNY NADLER Firstling No. 23, 2019 Latex painted ceramic 24 3/4 × 16 × 11 inches 62.9 × 40.6 × 27.9 cm

YVETTE DRURY DUBINSKY Transition, 2019 Monotype and Indigo dye on Japanese paper 23 × 23 inches 58.4 × 58.4 cm

(Detail) 58

BUNNY BURSON Her Hand, 2014 Woodblock embossment 25 1/4 × 29 1/4 inches 64.1 × 74.3 cm

(Detail) 60

BUZZ SPECTOR The Book Reflects Itself, 2011 Linen over yarn on cotton on museum board 32 × 43 inches 81.3 × 109.2 cm

PETER BOLTE Trevor Dunn, 2020 Oil on canvas 7 × 5 inches 17.8 × 12.7 cm

PETER BOLTE Jean-Luc Godard, 2020 Oil on canvas 5 × 7 inches 12.7 × 17.8 cm

LISA BLATT LA noon, 2011 Archival digital print mounted on board 26 1/2 × 40 inches 67.3 × 101.6 cm

SARA GHAZI ASADOLLAHI Untitled 1, 2021 Oil on canvas 20 × 26 inches 50.8 × 66 cm

JILL DOWNEN Breast Block, 2017 Gypsum, polystyrene and acrylic paint 19 × 8 1/2 × 8 1/2 inches 48.3 × 21.6 × 21.6 cm

JUDY PFAFF Untitled, 2008 Mixed media and cut paper on paper 13 3/4 × 38 1/4 × 1 1/2 inches 34.9 × 97.2 × 3.8 cm

LESLIE LASKEY Living Room, 2012 Acrylic, oil on canvas, wood 45 1/2 × 48 inches 115.6 × 121.9 cm

ROBERT PETTUS 8 Min/20 Sec, II, 2018 Archival print, dye ink 24 × 29 inches 61 × 73.7 cm

JILL DOWNEN Untitled 46, 2019 Plaster, gold leaf 10 × 8 × 1 3/4 inches 25.4 × 20.3 × 4.4 cm

JILL DOWNEN Untitled 50, 2019 Plaster, gold leaf 10 × 8 × 1 3/4 inches 25.4 × 20.3 × 4.4 cm

JILL DOWNEN Untitled 3, 2019 Plaster, gold leaf 10 × 8 × 1 3/4 inches 25.4 × 20.3 × 4.4 cm

JILL DOWNEN Untitled 48, 2019 Plaster, gold leaf 10 × 8 × 1 3/4 inches 25.4 × 20.3 × 4.4 cm

(Detail) 74

JOSEPH CANIZALES Extracted Ground, 2021 Cherry and walnut wood 8 × 9 × 2 1/2 inches approx. 20.3 × 22.9 × 6.4 cm

TOM REED Untitled, 2021 Mixed media on muslin on panel 18 × 24 inches 45.7 × 61 cm

DOUGLASS FREED Evening Fog, 2017 Oil on canvas 32 × 24 inches 81.3 × 61 cm

RENEE MCGINNIS Illinois Central, 2020 Oil on birch panel 17 3/4 × 36 1/2 inches 45.1 × 92.7 cm

LAURA MOSQUERA Unequivocally Here, 2021 Acrylic and gouache on canvas 28 1/4 × 24 1/2 inches 71.8 × 62.2 cm

FRANK SCHWAIGER THE POET (As Martyr), 2009 Oil on canvas panel 44 × 38 inches 111.8 × 96.5 cm

ROSALYN SCHWARTZ Portrait (those blue lips), 2020 Oil on gesso board 14 × 11 inches 35.6 × 27.9 cm

MARIO TREJO Before the Triumvirate, 2016 Ink, pencil, enamel on panel 24 × 16 inches 61 × 40.6 cm

MARK TRAVERS Lost City, 2021 Acrylic on carved and painted wood 30 × 22 1/2 × 1 1/4 inches 76.2 × 57.2 × 3.2 cm

DANIEL RAEDEKE Confluence, 2021 Acrylic on canvas on panel 15 × 15 inches 38.1 × 38.1 cm

RYAN ERICKSON Artifact #179, 2020 Image transfer on wood panel 20 × 16 inches 50.8 × 40.6 cm

LARISSA BORTEH Toss And Turn Cover Up, 2020 Oil on canvas 16 × 20 inches 40.6 × 50.8 cm

CHAR SCHWALL Undine VI, 2020 Organza and cotton fabric 18 × 18 in 45.7 × 45.7 cm

CONNOR DOLAN Self-portrait in Ultramarine, 2021 Oil on canvas 96 × 60 inches 243.8 × 152.4 cm

PATRICIA CLARK A Valid Presence, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 20 × 16 inches 50.8 × 40.6 cm

LILY HOLLINDEN Treacherous Waters, 2021 Oil on canvas 24 × 20 inches 61 × 50.8 cm

BRYANT WORLEY Young Dad, 2020 Oil on canvas 28 × 22 inches 71.1 × 55.9 cm

GARY PASSANISE Last Ellipse, 2021 Mixed media on paper 19 1/2 × 21 inches 49.5 × 53.3 cm

RICKY ALLMAN Incarceratedmed, 2017 Acrylic on canvas 29 × 39 inches 73.7 × 99.1 cm

TERRY CONRAD Drusy (1), 2016 Hand-made inks on paper 30 × 22 inches 76.2 × 55.9 cm

WILLIAM CONGER Drum Beat, 2018 Oil on canvas 28 × 30 inches 71.1 × 76.2 cm

DAMON FREED The Spectrum, 2019 Acrylic on canvas 27 × 27 inches 68.6 × 68.6 cm

ALEX COUWENBERG Kinka, 2017 Acrylic on canvas 28 × 24 inches 71.1 × 61 cm

RYAN ECKERT Sunrise, 2019 Oil, spray paint, fabric on paper 24 × 18 inches 61 × 45.7 cm

BILL KOHN Santa Teresa, 1986 Acrylic on canvas 23 1/2 × 12 1/2 inches 59.7 × 31.8 cm

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CINDY TOWER ‘20 Fiddler Crab Holes, 2020 Oil and mixed media on fabric 29 1/2 × 28 × 2 1/2 inches 74.9 × 71.1 × 6.4 cm

YVETTE DRURY DUBINSKY & VICKY TOMAYKO Favorite Red, 2018 Monotype, cyanotype, collage on Japanese paper 19 5/8 × 19 3/8 inches 49.8 × 49.2 cm

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RALPH NAGEL Les Baux XXXIV, 2016 Watercolor on paper 22 1/2 × 30 inches 57.2 × 76.2 cm

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CHRIS RUBIN DE LA BORBOLLA Toxic Love, 2021 Mixed media, fiberglass mannequins, Vita plastic, collages on honeycomb board 120 × 84 × 48 inches 304.8 × 213.4 × 121.9 cm

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VAN MCELWEE Z-GRID (Cross-sections of non-existent objects passing through a plane) 2018 Video (color, sound) 06:12 minutes Audio engineer: Garrison Brown, Consultants: Lynnie and Casper McElwee

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WILLIAM MORRIS Horizontals 1987 Video (color) 04:44 minutes

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ARTISTS Sara Ghazi Asadollahi Laura Beard Heather Bennett Lisa K. Blatt Michael Byron Bunny Burson Judy Child Carmon Colangelo Alex Couwenberg Terry James Conrad Jill Downen Damon Freed

Yvette Drury Dubinsky Douglass Freed Richard Hull Kelley Johnson Chris Kahler Leslie Laskey Estate Justin Henry Miller James Austin Murray Yvonne Osei Patricia Olynyk Gary Passanise

Charles P. Reay Daniel Raedeke Tom Reed Frank Schwaiger Char Schwall Christina Shmigel Thomas Sleet Buzz Spector Mark Travers Monika Wulfers

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