CHARLIE HEWITT: SILK ROADS
Charlie Hewitt: Silk Roads Jim Kempner Fine Art is pleased to announce Silk Roads, an exhibition of Charlie Hewitt’s recent paintings. The exhibition will open Thursday, November 14th and will continue through December 22nd. Silk Roads will feature Charlie Hewitt’s largest paintings to date. The 84 x 60” and 60 x 108” paintings engulf the viewer in abstraction. Hewitt gains freedom and mobility working on a large scale. The paintings themselves are physical, dimensional bodies of vibrant color, whose sweeping images engage in conversation within the canvas and with each other. Hewitt continues to integrate elements of printmaking, drawing, and collage into his paintings. Lines of loose drawing weave throughout his larger shapes, creating a unified fluidity within the paintings. Hewitt’s abstract forms are distilled versions of industrial subjects taken from childhood memories in Lewiston, ME. Illusions of hammers, nails, hands, wheels, and flags can be seen throughout Hewitt’s oeuvre. In this body of work, Hewitt introduces graphic pattern as a compositional device. Printed from an inkjet printer, black and white stripes and polka dots provide a juxtaposition to the soft washes of color. As seen in Red Thread, the stripes provide a stable ground and directional pull, leading the viewer into the organic forms within the composition. Much the same occurs in Lucky Jim; the polka dots mirror Hewitt’s freeform drawing while also establishing small geometric vignettes. These patterns have been incorporated into Hewitt’s visual lexicon, thus expanding his iconography. In conjunction with Charlie Hewitt’s recent permanent installation of Hopeful, a 24-foot neon sign installed over Speedwell Projects in Portland, ME, an indoor version will also be on display in this show. In the past few years, Hewitt has installed large public Urban Rattle sculptures on the High Line Park in Chelsea, NY, as well as in Lewiston and Portland, ME. His work is in numerous collections, including those of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; Whitney Museum of American Art, NY; New York Public Library, NY; Brooklyn Museum, NY; Library of Congress, Washington, DC; and the Portland Museum of Art, ME. The artist lives and works in Portland, ME, and Jersey City, NJ.
The Night of Falling Stars, 2019. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 84 x 60�.
Seven Acres, 2019. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 84 x 60�.
River Town, 2019. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 60 x 84�.
Black Jack, 2019. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 40 x 30�.
Rain Walker, 2019. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 40 x 30�.
Lucky Jim, 2019. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 60 X 108�.
Red Thread, 2019. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 48 X 72�.
Halo, 2019. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 40 x 30�.
Cloth of Gold, 2019. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 60 x 72�.
China Lakes, 2019. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 60 x 72�.
Rising Sun, 2019. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 48 x 72�.
Russian Doll, 2019. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 72 x 48�.
Street Prince, 2019. Oil, acrylic, mixed media on canvas. 60 X 108�.
JIM KEMPNER FINE ART Jim Kempner Fine Art specializes in contemporary paintings, sculpture, photography, and works on paper, with a special emphasis on contemporary master prints and outdoor sculpture. Our inventory appeals to the established as well as beginning collector. We work closely with art advisors, designers, corporations and museums to expand and enrich their varied collections. Located in the heart of Chelsea, the gallery’s three story modernist-inspired structure designed by architects Smith & Thompson boasts one of the few outdoor sculpture gardens in New York City, and is included in a number of books about contemporary architecture. Our inventory includes work by Donald Baechler, John Baldessari, Louise Bourgeois, Christo, Chuck Close, Richard Diebenkorn, Jim Dine, Sam Francis, Helen Frankenthaler, Spencer Finch, Jane Hammond, David Hockney, Howard Hodgkin, Jasper Johns, Deborah Kass, Alex Katz, Ellsworth Kelly, William Kentridge, Jeff Koons, Robert Mangold, Robert Motherwell (Jim Kempner Fine Art represents the Dedalus Foundation, Robert Motherwell’s print archive, in New York), Sol Lewitt, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Longo, Elizabeth Peyton, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Ed Ruscha, Paula Scher, Sean Scully, Frank Stella, Donald Sultan, Wayne Thiebaud, Andy Warhol and others. Among the contemporary artists whose work we represent are Robert Attanasio, Christopher Beane, Stanley Casselman, Long Bin Chen, Eduardo del Valle and Mirta Gómez, Rinaldo Frattolillo, Gianfranco Gorgoni, John Grande, John Henry, Charlie Hewitt, Jay Kelly, Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese, Jerry Mischak, David Mitchell, Craig Norton, Greg Parker, Robert Petersen, Randy Regier, Tom Slaughter, Pal Svensson and Boaz Vaadia. Formerly a private dealer, Jim Kempner opened his gallery, Jim Kempner Fine Art, at its present location in the fall of 1997. Sarah Browne has been the associate director since 2011 and the gallery director since October 2018. Jim Kempner has published prints by Rinaldo Frattolillo, Charlie Hewitt, Robert Indiana, Paula Scher, Bernar Venet, in addition to Gianfranco Gorgoni’s photographs of Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty. Other publications include Ligorano/Reese’s Line Up portfolio, Untitled 2001 silkscreen, and the DEMOCRACY lightbox, made in collaboration with former gallery director Dru Arstark, under the name Madness of Art Editions. Additionally, he has published his first editioned print, Apocryphal Now, in 2014.
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