CHARLES ARNOLDI: ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS
May 26 - June 24, 2023
Charles Arnoldi
Don’t hold your arms stiff and tight against your sides. As you walk through Charles Arnoldi’s exhibition of new work, Rock, Paper, Scissors, let yourself move freely. Let yourself feel the movement. You are a three-dimensional body in space. Yes, your eyes will soak up the lines, the intricate patterning overlap of Arnoldi’s latest explorations of Stick Paintings. You will see the rich patinas of copper and iron paint on examples of new Chainsaw pieces. And you will search for the ways that lines, cracks, texture and shadows interact on his puzzle-like stacked sculptural forms. But Arnoldi’s medium is more than visual, more than paint or metal, than sticks, wood, or foam. Arnoldi works with space. And more properly –with movement through space.
Arnoldi has never been one to let himself be pigeonholed or branded. His art is constantly shifting and evolving. In his fifth decade working as an artist, Arnoldi has used nearly any medium you could think of: metals, foam, plaster, wood, paint and beyond. He has drawn inspiration from the charcoalline-like branches of forest fire burned trees, from the forms and formalities of architecture, from the vast and mysterious ruins of Machu Pichu, from fellow artists like Rauschenberg, Stella, and Johns, and even from the humble potato. Life and experience permeate and constantly shift his vision and his work. It is the interchange itself that seems to interest him: making an object, working on it until it has a life of its own, and then entering into a dialogue with it. Pushing that dialogue as far as it can go. Once Arnoldi gets a particular idea, he is prolific – exploring all the ways that he can approach that particular question or perspective. While artistic superstardom might have come sooner had he stuck to one primary visual vocabulary, for Arnoldi, it is the creativity, the energy of the exploration that drives him. As he says, “You have to have as much doubt as confidence in what you’re doing.”
However, with over five decades of work, what can at first seem to be very disparate visual expressions begin to collate. There are through lines to Arnoldi’s work, questions that seem to pull him back again and again. One of these elements is the exploration of space which is so palpably present in the work of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
Here we have a whole new re-engagement with the Stick Paintings – taking the idea of the line out into space with complex and elegant constructions of acrylic-painted sticks. The juxtaposition of these 3D lines is all the more apparent as they play off of the 2D shadows they cast on the gallery wall. The two large plaster and foam panel pieces take Arnoldi’s negative-space Chainsaw paintings and add new dimensions – not least that these are carved from a special kind of foam rather than from wood blocks or wood panels. Here those 3D lines are scratched out volumes of space rather than of physical matter. The Stackable sculptures combine elements of several of Arnoldi’s explorations: architectural, puzzle-pieced like the ever-evolving Machu Pichu series, aggregate panels/pieces that can inhabit space in multiple ways depending on arrangement.
Some have said that there is a sixth sense. Beyond sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell, some scientists propose proprioception: the sense of self-movement, force, and body position. Knowing oneself as a three-dimensional body in space.
An interesting thing happens as you walk through the gallery among these pieces, you may begin to feel yourself inhabiting space, as these pieces do. The long, woven, sweep and return of the sticks becomes movement that you can feel as gesture. The deep scoring of the chain-sawed panels becomes an inward folding movement, the body curving itself around a central spine. The stacked sculptures, balanced so precariously - the movements of a complicated dance slowed down infinitely to near stillness.
Which brings us to the genius of Arnoldi’s work – the ability to translate his own quest, his ongoing dialogue with objects of art, to us, as viewers. We must engage these pieces in conversation, meet them on equal ground, give and ask: embodied form to embodied form.
- Michaela Kahn, PhD
Untitled, 2022, bronze, 14.5 x 14.5 x 9 inches, edition of 6
Untitled, 2022, bronze, 17 x 10 x 6 inches, edition of 6
Untitled, 2021, iron and plaster on foam, 60 x 47 x 9 inches
Untitled, 2023, acrylic on sticks, 26 x 17 x 9 inches
Untitled, 2023, acrylic on sticks, 19 x 16 x 11 inches
Blue Print, 2023, copper and plaster on foam, 84 x 72 x 3.5 inches
Untitled, 2023, wood blocks, dimensions variable, current installaion: 40 x 32 x 9.5 inches
Untitled, 2022, aluminum, 17 x 13 x 15.5 inches, edition of 6
Untitled, 2022, bronze, 19.5 x 12.25 x 11.5 inches, edition of 6
Untitled, 2022, aluminum, 14.5 x 14.5 x 9 inches, edition of 6
Railyard, 2023, acrylic on sticks, 88 x 80 x 6 inches
Untitled, 2022, iron and plaster on foam, 72 x 84 x 3.5 inches
Untitled, 2023, acrylic on sticks, 15.5 x 14.5 x 4.5 inches
Untitled, 2022, charcoal and acrylic on linen, 27.5 x 25.6 x 1.75 inches framed
Untitled, 2023, acrylic on wood chunks, 18.5 x 16.5 x 4 inches
Untitled, 2023, acrylic on sticks, 38 x 33 x 3 inches
On Time, 2022, charcoal and acrylic on canvas, 84 x 72 inches
Untitled, 2023, gouache and pencil on paper, 20 x 22.6 x 1.6 inches framed
Untitled, 2023, acrylic on wood chunks, 30 x 19 x 12 inches
Untitled, 2022
bronze
14.5 x 14.5 x 9 in.
edition of 6
CA366
Click to inquire about this work
Untitled, 2022
bronze
17 x 10 x 6 in.
edition of 6
CA365
Click to inquire about this work
$14,000
Untitled, 2021
iron and plaster on foam
60 x 47 x 9 in.
CA359
Click to inquire about this work
$14,000
Untitled, 2023
acrylic on sticks
26 x 17 x 9 in.
CA369
Click to inquire about this work
$60,000
Untitled, 2023
acrylic on sticks
19 x 16 x 11 in.
CA370
Click to inquire about this work
$20,000
$20,000
Blue Print, 2023 copper and plaster on foam
84 x 72 x 3.5 in.
CA367
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$90,000
Untitled, 2023 wood blocks
dimensions variable
current installation: 40 x 32 x 9.5 in.
CA371
Click to inquire about this work
$35,000
Untitled, 2022 aluminum
17 x 13 x 15.5 in.
edition of 6
CA383
Click to inquire about this work
$14,000
Untitled, 2022 bronze
19.5 x 12.25 x 11.5 in.
edition of 6
CA364
Click to inquire about this work
$14,000
Untitled, 2022 aluminum
14.5 x 14.5 x 9 in.
edition of 6
CA363
Click to inquire about this work
$14,000
Railyard, 2023 acrylic on sticks 88 x 80 x 6 in.
CA368
Click to inquire about this work
$125,000
Untitled, 2022 iron and plaster on foam 72 x 84 x 3.5 in.
CA362
Click to inquire about this work
$90,000
Untitled, 2023 acrylic on sticks
15.5 x 14.5 x 4.5 in.
CA373
Click to inquire about this work
$14,000
Untitled, 2022 charcoal and acrylic on linen
27.5 x 25.6 x 1.75 in. framed
CA382
Click to inquire about this work
$18,000
Untitled, 2023 acrylic on wood chunks
18.5 x 16.5 x 4 in.
CA375
Click to inquire about this work
$16,000
Untitled, 2023 acrylic on sticks 38 x 33 x 3 in.
CA374
Click to inquire about this work
$37,000
On Time, 2022 charcoal and acrylic on canvas 84 x 72 in.
CA361
Click to inquire about this work
$90,000
Untitled, 2023 gouache and pencil on paper 20 x 22.6 x 1.6 in. framed
CA372
Click to inquire about this work
$7,000
Untitled, 2023 acrylic on wood chunks 30 x 19 x 12 in.
CA376
Click to inquire about this work
$24,000
Born: 1946 in Dayton, OH
Works in Venice, CA
Education:
1968 Attended Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles
Awards:
1982 “Artist Fellowship” National Endowment for the Arts
1982 “Maestro Fellowship” CA Arts Council
1975 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship
1974 “Artist Fellowship” National Endowment for the Arts
1972 “Wittkowsky Award” Art Institute of Chicago
1969 Contemporary Arts Council
1969 “Young Talent Award” Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Recent Selected Solo Exhibitions:
2023 Charles Arnoldi: Deep Cuts, Praz Delavallade, Los Angeles, CA (catalogue)
2021 Charles Arnoldi: Natural Selection, Modernism, San Francisco, CA
2020 Charles Arnoldi, Four Decades, USC Fisher Museum, Los Angeles, CA
2017 Charles Arnoldi: Still Working, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
2016 Charles Arnoldi: New Paintings, Modernism, San Francisco, CA
2015 Charles Arnoldi: Looking Back, Moving Forward – 1970 - 2015, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
2013 Intersections: Charles Arnoldi, Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside, CA
Freeway Studies #1: This Side of the 405, Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA
2012 Charles Arnoldi New Paintings, Modernism, San Francisco, CA
Charles Arnoldi: Case Study, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
2011 Charles Arnoldi: New & Old Paintings, Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, ID
2010 Perspectives 2010, Stremmel Gallery, Reno, Nevada
2008 Charles Arnoldi: Wood, The Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA (catalogue)
2007 Charles Arnoldi: Recent Works, Modernism, San Francisco, CA
Charles Arnoldi: The Arc Paintings, Bobbie Greenfield gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Charles Arnoldi: Arc Paintings, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
2006 Charles Arnoldi, Museum of Design Art and Architecture, Culver City, CA
Charles Arnoldi: Cut Metal Pieces, Charles Cowles Gallery, New York, NY
2005 Charles Arnoldi: Recent Works, Modernism, San Francisco, CA
Charles Arnoldi: The Arc Paintings, Bobbie Greenfield gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Charles Arnoldi: New Paintings, Charles Cowles Gallery, New York, NY
2004 Charles Arnoldi Paintings, Dwight Hackett Projects, Santa Fe, NM
Charles Arnoldi 2004 Paintings and Gouaches, Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Charles Arnoldi: New Paintings, RB Stevenson Gallery, La Jolla, CA
Charles Arnoldi Recent Paintings, Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA
2003 Charles Arnoldi: Recent Works, Modernism, San Francisco, CA
Charles Arnoldi, Works on Paper: A Thirty-Year Survey, 1972-2002, Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2002 Charles Arnoldi, Harmony of Line and Color, Busan Metropolitan Art Museum, Busan, Korea (catalogue)
2001 Charles Arnoldi: Recent Works, Modernism, San Francisco, CA
Charles Arnoldi: Paintings, Charles Cowles Gallery, New York, NY
2000 Charles Arnoldi: Paintings, Ochi Fine Art, Ketchum, ID
Charles Arnoldi: New Paintings, Skidmore Contemporary Art, Malibu, CA
1999
Charles Arnoldi: New Works, Chac-Mool Contemporary Fine Art, West Hollywood, CA
Charles Arnoldi: Painting and Sculpture, Ochi Fine Art, ketchum, ID
Charles Arnoldi: Recent Works, Charles Cowles Gallery, New York, NY
New Work, Flanders Contemporary Art, Minneapolis, MN
1997
Charles Arnoldi Monotypes: A Survey 1987-1996, Flanders Graphics, Minneapolis, MN
Charles Arnoldi: New Paintings, Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York, NY
Selected Public Collections:
Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, SC
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Berkeley Art Museum, University of CA, Berkeley, CA
Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID
The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HI
Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain
Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO
Laumeier Sculpture Park, St. Louis, MO
The Long Beach Musuem of Art, Long Beach, CA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Memphis Brooks Museum, Memphis, TN
Menil Foundation, Houston, TX
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
National Gallery of Art, Sydney, Australia
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
The Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV
The Newark Museum, Newark, NJ
The Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, CA
Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA
Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
Scottsdale, Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
University Art Museum, CA State University, Long Beach, CA
Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Los Angeles, CA
Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
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