David Aipperspach
Prologue to a garden dark
David Aipperspach
Prologue to a garden dark
David Aipperspach Prologue to a garden dark March 18 - April 30, 2022
CHART is pleased to present Prologue to a garden dark, an exhibition of new work by David Aipperspach. Occupying the top floor of the gallery, the show will run from Friday, March 18th to Saturday, April 30th, with an opening reception on March 18th from 5–8pm. Aipperspach is a painter drawn to moments where weirdness pokes through the quotidian. In this new series, he depicts quiet vignettes that capture the passage of time on a summer afternoon and evening, exploring how subtle shifts in memory can alter our perceptions of place. Despite the commonplace characteristics of his subjects—a doorknob, a floor lamp, some patio chairs—narratives begin to emerge from prolonged looking. Particularities of the compositions range from rational to illogical. Sharply rendered details share surfaces with upending perspectival incongruities. Together they reveal a world with unexpected ambiance and drama looming within the familiar. The six large paintings in the exhibition represent distinct intervals of time indicated by inset “clocks”: numbered bands of colors observed in the sky and surrounding landscape at each hour. The clocks serve as indices that mark each painted scenario with a duration of time beyond just a single suspended moment. In 5-8 pm, for example, the viewer experiences an indoor and outdoor space simultaneously thanks to the shifting transparency of flickering light on a windowpane. The 7 pm clock is crisply defined, while the 8 pm bands begin to dissolve, emulating the sun-spattered exterior. Just as a change in illumination would alter one’s ability to peer through the glass, these clocks diagram the diminishing available light. Aipperspach composed the large paintings by referencing observational studies and photographic sources combined with improvised and invented elements. The small paintings were conceived as flashbacks to memories of inhabiting the large works, depicting select aspects from shifted perspectives. Varied processes throughout the works elicit a range of approaches to mark-making and spatial construction, at times representing credible physical realities and in other instances simulating the perceptual slippage of memory, distraction, and unease.
David Aipperspach is a painter and educator based in Philadelphia. He earned an MFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design and a B.A. in Landscape Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Ursinus College. His work has been shown in a variety of gallery and academic contexts, including the Woodmere Art Museum, Anderson Ranch Art Center, RISD Museum, West Chester University, UC Berkley, Berman Museum of Art, Newport Art Museum, Pilot Projects, Fjord Gallery, Nancy Margolis Gallery, and elsewhere.
5
Sundial 1, 2022 oil on canvas 36 x 40 in (91.4 x 101.6 cm)
7
Sun Chart, 4-11 pm, 2021 oil on canvas 24 1/2 x 24 in (62.2 x 61 cm)
9
Deer, 2021 oil on canvas 14 x 14 in (35.6 x 35.6 cm)
11
Sundial 2, 2022 oil on canvas 36 x 40 in (91.4 x 101.6 cm)
13
4-7 pm, 2021 oil on canvas 84 x 72 in (213.4 x 182.9 cm)
15
Left: 5 pm, 2021 oil on canvas over panel 10 x 8 1/2 in (5.4 x 21.6 cm) Right: 4 pm, 2021 oil on canvas over panel 7 x 6 in (17.8 x 15.2 cm)
17
5-6 pm, 2021 oil on canvas 84 x 72 in (213.4 x 182.9 cm)
David’s studio in Philadelphia, PA
21
5-8 pm, 2021 oil on canvas 84 x 72 in (213.4 x 182.9 cm)
23
Left: 6 pm, 2021 oil on canvas over panel 84 x 72 in (213.4 x 182.9 cm) Right: 7 pm, 2021 oil on canvas over panel 10 x 8 1/2 in (25.4 x 21.6 cm)
25
6-9 pm, 2021 oil on canvas 84 x 72 in (213.4 x 182.9 cm)
27
7-10 pm, 2021 oil on canvas 84 x 72 in (213.4 x 182.9 cm)
29
8 pm, 2021 oil on canvas over panel 14 x 12 in (35.6 x 30.5 cm)
31
8-11 pm, 2021 oil on canvas 84 x 72 in (213.4 x 182.9 cm)
Studio views
35
Screen, 2021 oil on canvas over panel 12 x 16 in (40.6 x 50.8 cm)
37
WIndow View, Nasturtimus, 2021 oil on canvas over panel 16 x 20 in (40.6 x 50.8 cm)
39
Faucet, 2021 oil on canvas over panel 20 x 16 in (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
41
Handle, 2021 oil on canvas over panel 20 x 16 in (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
43
Glass Door, 2021 oil on canvas over panel 20 x 15 in (50.8 x 38.1 cm)
Studio View
47
10 pm (study), 2021 ink, acrylic, and colored pencil on paper 11 1/4 x 10 in (28.6 x 25.4 cm)
49
6 pm (Study), 2021 graphite and colored pencil on paper 14 x 12 in (35.6 x 30.5 cm)
51
11 pm (Study), 2021 graphite on paper 10 x 10 in (25.4 x 25.4 cm)
Studio View
Sundial Study
DAVID AIPPERSPACH Born in Des Moines, IA Lives and works in Philadelphia, PA
EDUCATION
2014
MFA, Painting, RISD, Providence, RI
2010
BA, Landscape Architecture and Visual Studies, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 2018 2015 2012 2011
Prologue to a garden dark, CHART, New York, NY Six Paintings, Allens Lane Art Center, Philadelphia, PA Flat Light, Berman Museum of Art, Collegeville, PA New Folk, Zughaus Gallery, Berkeley, CA Pastures of Plenty, Zughaus Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2013
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Woodmere Annual, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA Unsolicited Submissions, Ejecta Projects, Carlisle, PA 2018 Midnight Sun, Pilot Projects, Philadelphia, PA, curated by Meredith Sellers and Jonathan Santoro 2017 Cupid Angling, West Chester University, West Chester, PA, curated by Kristopher Bendict Tall NF Raspberry Mocha Latte, Investment Projects, New York, NY, curated by Hao Ni and Amanda Nedham 2016 Reflections on Synthetic Action, Anderson Ranch Art Center, Snowmass, CO Recent Paintings, Day Space, Philadelphia, PA Space Open, Wurster Hall Gallery at UC Berkeley, Berekeley, CA 2015 The Summer Show, DM Contemporary, New York, NY 2014 The Very Hot Summer Show, DM Contemporary, New York, NY Color: National Juried Exhibition, Brooklyn Waterfront Arts Council, Brooklyn, NY 2019
2012
2011
2010
RISD MFA Painting 2014, Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York, NY First Dibs, New York Design Center, New York, NY Gravity, Projekt 722, Brooklyn, NY Juried Annual, Newport Art Museum, Newport, RI RISD Graduate Thesis Exhibition, Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence, RI Qualia, Fjord Gallery, Philadelphia, PA At Your Leisure, 111 Front St. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY Ten-X, Rhode Island Community College, Warwick, RI Painting Department Biennial, Woods-Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI Arc of Alchemy, Sol Koffler Gallery, Providence, RI Boston Young Contemporaries, 808 Gallery at Boston University, Boston, MA Body: Talk, Gelman Gallery at the RISD Museum, Providence, RI Too Big to Fail, Sol Koffler Gallery, Providence, RI Juried Drawing Show, Memorial Hall Gallery, Providence, RI Trazando La Linea, Centro Estatal de Artes y Culturas, Mexicali, Mexico Intermission: Six Bay Area Painters, Slate Contemporary, Oakland, CA ‘Lectric Collective, Krowswork Gallery, Oakland, CA Juried Annual, Palos Verdes Art Center, Los Angeles, CA Selections from Slate Contemporary, David Thorne Building, Oakland, CA Ekphrasis, Krowswork Gallery, Oakland, CA
CHART 74 FRANKLIN ST NEW YORK NY 10013 CHART-GALLERY.COM 646 799 9319 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2022 CHART ALL ARTWORKS © DAVID AIPPERSPACH PHOTOS BY NEIGHBORING STATES CATALOGUE DESIGN BY KRISTEN WASIK COVER IMAGE: 6-9 PM (DETAIL), 2021