Wexler uses sourced materials ranging from photographs, printed imagery, illustrations, and his own drawings to create intricately collaged panels and works on paper. Each element is carefully layered and woven into a graphic framework of color, form, and varying textures. Shapes and lines reveal and conceal themselves as they navigate and compete for space on the surface. As he prepared works for the exhibition, Wexler noticed a common theme begin to emerge with the repeated use of maps and diagrams from Japanese railway stations. Making their way into several works, these place-mementos formed a fragmented structure that intertwined with other specific elements referencing nature and solid abstract shapes of color. The result became a series of 12 works on paper entitled Travelers. Each work in the set holds the exact same amount of collaged forms mixed with layers of thinly-washed and pigmented Japanese paper, making for a balanced display of works bound by a cohesive dialogue. For Wexler, these images reference physical and spatial travel, not only for their literal implications, but also for the visual journey the eye and mind take as they wander through the positive and negative spaces therein.
In addition to the optical network of color and forms, Wexler plays with texture and weight through the use of different materials. Pieces of coarse and raw canvas are juxtaposed with thinly painted, more transparent Japanese paper, suggesting a push and pull between the permanent and the ephemeral, as in Granny Cart for the Smithsonian. Two other works in the show, Bubblegum Bonfire and That’s Right, Night contrast each other in terms of palette, but a longer inspection reveals they act as duo, sharing the same motifs and silhouettes. Other works in the show are visual feasts reminiscent of modernist forms from a bygone era.
Granny Cart for the Smithsonian, 2022 Paint, painted paper, wash paper, mulberry paper, adhered/collaged on linen, stretched over wood panel 48 x 36 inches
Assembled Island 1, 2022
Paint, painted paper and painted linen on wood panel 24 x 18 inches
Assembled Island 2, 2022
Paint, painted paper and painted linen on wood panel 24 x 18 inches
Assembled Island 3, 2022
Paint, painted paper and painted linen on wood panel 24 x 18 inches
Bubblegum Bonfire, 2021
Paint, painted paper, print material collaged/adhered to panel 40 x 30 inches
That’s Right, Night, 2021 Painted paper, paint and print material collaged/adhered to panel 40 x 30 inches
Travelers 1, 2021
Paint, pigment-stained washi paper, print material, mixed media on paper 20 x 16 inches
Travelers 2, 2021
Paint, pigment-stained washi paper, print material, mixed media on paper 20 x 16 inches
Travelers 3, 2021
Paint, pigment-stained washi paper, print material, mixed media on paper 20 x 16 inches
Travelers 4, 2021
Paint, pigment-stained washi paper, print material, mixed media on paper 20 x 16 inches
Travelers 5, 2021
Paint, pigment-stained washi paper, print material, mixed media on paper 20 x 16 inches
Travelers 6, 2021
Paint, pigment-stained washi paper, print material, mixed media on paper 20 x 16 inches
Travelers 7, 2021
Paint, pigment-stained washi paper, print material, mixed media on paper 20 x 16 inches
Travelers 8, 2021
Paint, pigment-stained washi paper, print material, mixed media on paper 20 x 16 inches
Travelers 9, 2021
Paint, pigment-stained washi paper, print material, mixed media on paper 20 x 16 inches
Travelers 10, 2021
Paint, pigment-stained washi paper, print material, mixed media on paper 20 x 16 inches
Travelers 11, 2021
Paint, pigment-stained washi paper, print material, mixed media on paper 20 x 16 inches
Travelers 12, 2021
Paint, pigment-stained washi paper, print material, mixed media on paper 20 x 16 inches
Cautionary Configuration, 2020 Paint, painted paper, print material and linen, collaged/adhered to panel 72 x 56 inches
AARON WEXLER (b. 1974)
EDUCATION
1999 M.F.A. Painting and Drawing, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
1996 B.F.A. Painting and Drawing, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA
EXHIBITIONS
SOLO
2022 Everywhere You Go is a Shape, Heather Gaudio Fine Art PROJECTS, New Canaan, CT
2018 Everyday Revolution, Gallery 9.5, Kyoto, Japan
Recent Works, Gallery 527 Madison Ave., New York, NY
2015 The Basket Looked Like An Ocean, And I Was Just Throwing Rocks In It, Morgan Lehman Gallery, New York, NY
The Out Crowd, The Ice House Gallery at Monmouth University, West Long Branch, NJ
2013 The Inverse of What’s Light and What’s Heavy, Morgan Lehman Gallery, New York, NY
2009 Invisible Ghost, Josee Bienvenu Gallery, New York, NY
2008 Use Your Indoor Voice, One In The Other Gallery, London, UK
2006 Mind Over Matter, Josee Bienvenu Gallery, New York, NY
GROUP
2019
Time Under Lampshades, Transmitter Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2016 Limitation and Creation of Imagination, Sezon Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2013 Ciudad Saudade, Architectures of Memory, Reverse Space, Brooklyn, NY
2011 Permanent Collection, Regina Rex at NurtureArt, New York, NY
2010 Stand Here and Listen, The James Hotel, New York, NY
2009 Abstract America, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
2008 1968/2008 The Culture of Collage, Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York, NY
2007 Twilight Musings, One In The Other Gallery, London, UK
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (continued)
2006 The New Collage, Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York, NY
181st Annual Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Art, The National Academy Museum, New York, NY
2005 No Apology For Breathing, Group Show, Jack The Pelican Presents, Brooklyn, NY
2004 FreeForm, Center Gallery at Lincoln Center, New York, NY
Puzzle Palace, Josee Bienvenu Gallery, New York, NY
Aaron Wexler & Colin Keefe, PS122 Gallery, New York, NY
Some Exhaust, Lehmann Maupin, New York, NY
The Day After I Destroyed The Women I Wished I Had Not Destroyed The Women,
5BE, Oliver Kamm Gallery, New York, NY
2003 Team Work, Vox Populi Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
The Accords, Weather Records Project Space, Brooklyn, NY
2002 Gecenkondu, Apexart, New York, NY
Grotto, Jessica Murray Projects, Brooklyn, NY
2001 The Willow House, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, IL
2000 Minimal Provocations, Betty Rymer Gallery, Chicago, IL
Flat Files, Bellwether Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
OPEN, L.F.L. Gallery, New York, NY
1999 Post MFA, Peter Miller Gallery, Chicago, IL
