Amanda Church - "Recliners" exhibition catalog

AMANDA CHURCH RECLINERS

AMANDA CHURCH Recliners

“Awake.

Shake dreams from your hair my pretty child, my sweet one.

Choose the day and choose the sign of your day the day’s divinity First thing you see.”

-The Ghost Song, Jim Morrison

Traversing the sensuous bends and dense tones of Amanda Church’s paintings is akin to waking up from the twilight of a soft sleep to the playful caress of a quixotic lover. Undulating flagella-like forms, linear frameworks, and sizzling fenestras of color come together to create tantalizingly voyeuristic scenarios. Rendered in layers of oil paint each canvas is a jigsaw puzzle of contours and hues that embrace and quiver. Decoding the enigmatic language performed within Church’s work requires sensitivity to color, acute pattern recognition, and a nostalgic appreciation for manufactured desire.

Recliners, the artist’s first solo exhibition with High Noon Gallery, reimagines the historical canon of fleshscapes and offers viewers a cryptic postmodern-Pop interpretation of subliminal yearning and lecherous unraveling. Assured and self-sufficient, Church’s comprehensive series of paintings displays a calculated barrage of visual information that reveals her keen instincts and honed technical capabilities. Similar to the tight atmospheres and perplexing imagery of a Wes Anderson film each painting stands as a gestalt of questions. Sparely installed throughout the gallery, six moderately scaled yet formally weighty canvases enjoy ample breathing room. The broad white-walled margins that flank each work function as buffer zones and grant viewers a moment of reflection before being cheekily seduced to the next.

Often triggered by a lack of representation, general audiences spiral and quickly disengage when faced with the task of navigating an abstract painting. Fixating on the scarcity of recognizable visual cues viewers run the risk of overlooking the straightforwardness of what is present. With this distinction in mind, the works included in Recliners operate on two levels, firstly as impactful graphic symbols and secondly as psychological scenes of intimacy and frolic. Church’s paintings divert away from pure abstraction and read more like a zoomed-in cinematic frame where the plot continues to unfold just outside of the picture plane. By planting a redolent trail of indicative breadcrumbs for viewers to stumble upon— a voluptuous lavender mound, fleshy folds, and a variety of architectural signifiers— Church’s paintings clearly signal bodily curves and interior spaces.

Pushing past the symbolic surfaces and unpacking the formal qualities of Church’s paintings is not only satisfying but necessary in order to access the artist’s unique flavor of pop abstraction. Line, color, value, shape, scale, texture, and space make up the backbone of any artist’s formal toolkit.

Church can be observed time and again implementing combinations of lines and edges, the places where two or three fields of color collide, to shatter each canvas into a stained-glass pane of chroma and form. Church’s reliance upon lines, edges, and ratios works to establish her compositions and guide her in managing the infinite potential a blank canvas offers.

Church can be spotted methodically employing ratios of three to establish the compositional framework for each painting. Carving the canvas up into horizontal registers of information subconsciously brings to mind a cross-sectioned dollhouse or comic book panels. This layered organization of space is perhaps most recognizable within the works Soft Parade and Bedheads, wherein undulating lines form three distinct fields of color stacked atop one another. The tradition of implementing lines and ratios to coax viewers’ eyes around a painting is a well-known Euro-centric old master technique. Take, for instance, Manet’s Olympia, in which the bottom third of the frame is inhabited by a figure reclining upon a chase lounge. By leaving the background relatively neutral and packing the bottom register with the majority of visual information, Manet plays with visual hierarchies in order to create a sense of space. Church’s adaptation of this technique, however, is intrinsically “new world” and finds its roots within American aesthetics and the visual cues used to sell desire in movies, advertisements, and billboards.

Tinged oranges, dusty lilacs, muffled blues, and fleshy sun-kissed pinks seem to be a few of the artist’s go-to colors. Almost four ubiquitously turn up to play different roles across the six canvases in the exhibition. The specificity of Church’s colors and what they reference serve as yet another key for deciphering the work. Variations of these four hues can be traced back in some capacity to consumer culture and the alluring commodities it mass-produces. Just take a stroll down a pharmacy makeup aisle or casually peruse the latest edition of Vogue magazine to glean what Church’s sultry palette coyly hints at. Illusions of lust, luxury, and exotic travel are hardwired into the DNA of the work. Recognizable in paintings such as The View and Split, seductive forms vibrate with editorial color. But unlike the flashy diamines, rich blacks, and lush mosses displayed in the window of a shopping mall, Church’s colors are not available in stores. Each of the tones she employs is meticulously mixed, fastidiously positioned, and applied onto the canvas in myriad thin layers in order to cultivate activated swaths of epigrammatic color.

Intimate memories, personal experiences, and fantasies are bound to bubble up to the surface, as the eye gently traces each painting’s geometric angles and bold lines. While rejecting identifiable objects, figures, or places, Church weaves ambiguous shapes and valleys of blank space into her

paintings that engage viewers in a playful game of association. Similar to the act of cloud watching, the web of forms presented within a single painting can be subject to differing interpretations.

Take, for instance, the painting Magic Mountains, where it is nearly impossible to unsee cleavage or a pair of upturned buttocks within the mirrored flesh-tinted mounds cartoonishly outlined with thin black lines. Church anticipates the viewers’ first impressions and appears to take joy in subversively positioning the work to yield a different interpretation by including the word “mountain” in the painting’s title. This mischievous gesture is like a dirty joke between two friends which inevitably leaves viewers with their pants down and assumptions exposed.

The ability to recall memories, to infer, and to try to forsee future are intrinsic qualities that make us deeply human. Abstraction as a form of expression idealistically utilizes these traits to communicate, connect, and activate diverse audiences. Church’s fundamental awareness of these unifying qualities allows her to construct layers of cerebral jungle gyms within her work. Lured closer with bold color and persuaded by bodily innuendos, it seems impossible not to seize upon the artist’s invitation for levity and play. Confident in the viewers’ imaginative capabilities to fill in any of the blanks, the abstract “scapes” Church constructs celebrate the open-mindedness of consciousness— the idiosyncratic collection of work presented in Recliners is freeing, expansive, and represents Church’s adroit balance of intellect and intention.

Katie Hector, 2019

Katie Hector is an artist, curator, and writer currently living in New York City. While upholding a dedicated studio practice and exhibiting work widely, Hector has also spearheaded over forty group shows, screenings, panel discussions, and artist-based initives both in the US and abroad. She earned a BFA in painting from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University graduating in 2014.

Magic Mountains, 2019, oil on canvas, 32 x 45 inches

The View, 2019, oil on canvas, 32 x 36 inches

Soft Parade, 2019, oil on canvas, 32 x 36 inches

Bedheads, 2019, oil on canvas, 32 x 36 inches

Split, 2019, oil on canvas, 32 x 36 inches

Voyeurs, 2019, oil on canvas, 32 x 36 inches

Amanda Church b. Poughkeepsie, NY

EDUCATION Bennington College, B.A. Painting and Drawing New York Studio School, New York City ​ ​ SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2019 Recliners, High Noon Gallery, New York, NY BODY/object (with John Franklin), Hionas Gallery, New York, NY 2018 Steve Harvey Projects, New York, NY 2015 20/20 Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico Galerie du Tableau, Marseille, France 2012 Hollywoodland, Land of Tomorrow, Louisville, KY 2009 Vernon Fine Art, Prague, Czech Republic “Lovely, Dark, and Deep,” Michael Steinberg Fine Art 2008 If Six Were Mine, Jancar Gallery, Los Angeles. California Traveling Without Moving, Julie Chae Gallery, Boston, MA Galerie du Tableau, Marseille, France 2006 Michael Steinberg Fine Art, NY 2003 Deep Pucci, Artek Contemporaries LLC, NY

2001 Art Resources Transfer, Inc., NY 2000 Galerie du Tableau, Marseille, France 1999 Clifford Smith Gallery, Boston, MA Galerie du Tableau, Marseille, France SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2015 The Abstract Body, Sharon Arts Center, Peterborough, New Hampshire Summer show, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, Massachusetts The Big Show, Silas Marder Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY Paperazzi 4, Janet Kurnatowski Gallery, Brooklyn, NY 2014 Le Show des Amis, Showroom Gallery, Brooklyn, NY Living and Sustaining a Creative Life, Aberson Exhibits, Tulsa, Oklahoma Treasure Island, curated by Julie Chae, The Lower East Side Printshop, NY, NY The Last Brucennial, organized by the Bruce High Quality Foundation, NY, NY Color Me Badd, curated by Chris Bors, The Nars Foundation, Brooklyn, NY Minimal Baroque, curated by Courtney J. Martin, Julie Sass, and Bodil Neilssen, Ronnebaeksholm, Copenhagen Denmark Hotels Innovate Project, curated by Brian Morris, Miami FL Two-person show, The George Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Paperazzi 3, Janet Kurnatowski Gallery, Brooklyn, NY 2013 The Moby Project, curated by Janet Goleas, Mulford Farm, East Hampton, NY; Moby Annex at Neoteric Gallery, Amagansett, NY Open Canvas, curated by Tom Eshchar, The Paper Factory Hotel, LIC, NY The Norwood Club, annual installation curated by Stephanie Theodore, NY, NY Endless Summer, curated by Gary Petersen, Brian Morris Gallery, NY, NY Tectonic Shift, curated by Noah Post, Brian Morris Gallery, NY, NY Silhouette, curated by William Carroll, The Elizabeth Foundation, NY, NY Paperazzi 2, Janet Kurnatowski Gallery, Brooklyn, NY Doing Pennants, curated by Paul Evans, Fifth Floor Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2012 Small Doors, an online exhibition curated by Janet Goleas Swimming Upstream, O Cinema’s Art at “O,” curated by Cat del Buono and Diana Leidel, Miami, FL Buy My Bananas. curated by Julia Trotta, Kate Werble Gallery, NY Paperazzi, Janet Kurnatowsi Gallery, NY, NY 2011 Paper A-Z, Sue Scott Gallery, NY, NY Porrnucopia, Allegra La Viola Gallery, NY, NY New Work, New Faces, Storefront Gallery, NY, NY 2010 Paper Trail, curated by Paul Evans, Happy, Los Angeles, CA Summertime, Stephan Stoyanov Gallery, NY With Color Like This: Form as Experience, curated by Horace Brockington, Fine Arts Center Gallery at Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa Bushwick Schlacht! curated by Guillermp Creus with Marcel Huppauff and Tom Sanford, 245 Boerum Street, Brooklyn, NY Phantoms, Stephan Stoyanov Gallery, NY 2009 Phantoms, Luxe Gallery, Brussels, Belgium Quietly, Luxe Gallery, NY 2001 Miami Art Fair, curatorial project by Omar Lopez-Chahoud, Miami, FL Buzz (three-person exhibition), Clifford Smith Gallery, Boston MA The Brewster Project, curated by Christopher Ho, Brewster, NY Sex Abroad, curated by Naomi Urabe, Five Years, London, UK Humanoid, Frederieke Taylor Gallery, NY Fhuh…promiscuously subarticulate paintings, organized by David Humphrey, Fish Tank Gallery, Brooklyn, NY Refrigerate After Opening, curated by Edward Winkleman, Cynthia Broan Gallery, NY Ripe and Hazy, organized by Mark Keffer, Goliath, Brooklyn, NY Humanoid, Diverse Works Art Space, Houston, Texas Bad Touch, Lump Gallery, Raleigh, North Carolina Hit and Run, curated by Edward Winkleman, London, UK 2000 The Figure: Another Side of Modernism, curated by Lilly Wei, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, NY Paper Products, Clifford Smith Gallery, Boston, MA En Garde, curated by Edward Winkleman, Burton Marinkovich Fine Art, Washington, DC The MTV Canvas, an online exhibition curated by Tate at Guild.com

Assorted Flavors, Catherine Moore Fine Art, NY Send in the Clowns, Lump Gallery, Raleigh, North Carolina 1999 Out of Y2K, organized by Eung Ho Park, Im n Il, Brooklyn, NY The Flat Files, Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA NY2K, curated by Carlo McCormick and Livestock, El Bohio, NY Art for Park, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY Galerie du Tableau, two-person show (w/ Bradley Rubenstein), Marseille, France Brief Encounter, curated by Eduardo Difarnecio (with Leanne Sacramone and Nicolas Profit), Paris, France Go Figure!, Clifford Smith Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts Nylon, group show (works on paper), London, UK Size Matters, curated by Mike Weiss, Gale Gates et al., NY Tuff ‘n’ Tender, Lump Gallery, Raleigh, North Carolina A Room with a View, Sixth @ Prince, NY Trans, curated by Thomas Rieck, Kunstlerhaus, Hamburg, Germany Phenotypology, curated by Maureen McQuillan, Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY Humanoid, Vedanta Gallery, Chicago, Illinois 1998 Clifford Smith Gallery, group show, Boston, MA Ten from Brooklyn, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, Virginia Pierogi Goes to College, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, traveling to Bard College, Rheinbeck, NY Pierogi 2000, NY: The Flatfiles, Kunstlerhaus, Vienna, Austria The Jewel Box Project, curated by Patrick Callery, GAGA Gallery, NY Pop Surrealism, The Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut Project Wall, Art Resources Transfer, Inc., NY Chick Diptych, Lump Gallery, Raleigh, North Carolina Visual Pleasure, Fakiris Gallery, Greenport, NY Brite Magic, Islip Art Museum, East Islip, NY Pet Shop, Nicholas Davies Gallery, NY 1997 Affirm Identity, Kingsborough College Gallery, NY Art on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Greensboro, NC New York Drawers: The Pierogi 2000 Flatfiles, Gasworks, London, traveling to Corner House, Manchester, UK Current Undercurrent, Brooklyn Museum of Art, NY The Chamber Pot Show, The Lower East Side Tenement Museum, NY 1996 Hodgepodge Lodge East, curated by Mark Dean Veca, Hovel, NY Round Up, Livestock Gallery, NY

Fascination, The Lobby Gallery at the Deutsche Bank, NY Salon des Trees, organized by Austin Ackles and Mary Jones, Central Park, NY Waterline, Black and Herron Space, NY Fresh and Tasty, curated by Elisabeth Kley, OIA, NY 1995 Oooze, Black and Herron Space, NY Wacko, The Work Space, NY Either/Or, organized by Kenny Schachter, Flamingo East, NY Other Rooms, Ronald Feldman Gallery, NY Art Sans Frontiere, curated by Claude Simard, La Rouche, Canada Flip Side, two-person show, Marymount College Gallery, NY PUBLIC COLLECTIONS New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ The Progressive Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio Deutsche Bank, New York The Chambers Hotel, New York Bondardo Communications, Milan, Italy GRANTS Guggenheim Fellowship 2015 Artists Grants/Artists Space 1993 Related professional activities Freelance writer ARTnews, Art in America, Flash Art, Art Papers, Art on Paper, artnet magazine, Art Notes (from Madrid), and wburg Curator (with Courtney J. Martin): Tract, Plus Ultra Gallery, June/July 2002 – reviewed in The NY Times, 6/28/02, The New Yorker, 7/8/02, and Time Out, 7/11-18/02, Sunrise Sunset, Smack Mellon, June 2004 Data Panic (with Franklin Evans), Cuchifritos Gallery, NY, NY Visiting Artist UC Davis, CA (lecture and crits) February 2010

Amanda Church | Recliners October 10 - November 10, 2019 Edition of 100

Publisher: © 2019 Jared Linge HIGH NOON GALLERY

Art © 2019 Amanda Church Text © 2019 Katie Hector

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reprinted or reproduced in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, without prior permission from the publisher.

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cover (detail): Bedheads, 2019, oil on canvas, 32” x 36”