Jerry Mischak: Everyday Lives
Spring 2020
Jerry Mischak Everyday Lives Jim Kempner Fine Art is pleased to announce Everyday Lives, an exhibition of recent drawings and paintings by Jerry Mischak. This is the artist’s fourth solo exhibition at the gallery and is on view from Thursday, February 20th - Sunday, March 22nd. It has been extended through Spring 2020 as an online exhibition. Mischak’s fantastical, action-based images magnify the intricacies of daily life. Instead of depicting a realistic scene, Mischak amplifies moments of domestic turmoil and loss of control. Each scene embodies raw physicality and action, and abandons a sense of perspective and earth’s gravity. Objects spiral out of the composition in all directions, creating an elastic sense of space. Mischak’s cups spill disproportionate amounts of liquid, and his abstract shapes mingle with household appliances. These improbable factors, coupled with dramatic neon color, make ordinary problems feel surreal. By exacerbating small mishaps, Mischak allows the viewer to feel the frustration of the day-to-day and find humor in it. Mischak succeeds in making normal circumstances feel bizarre and unearthly. The lack of a human subject in fundamentally human scenarios creates tension and asks the viewer to consider where this tension originates. In Back in a Minute, an abandoned pot on a table is monitored only by a dog. Mischak uses animals and disembodied hands as subjects, and occasionally transforms colorful spills into human figures. This type of embellishment adds an aspect of magical realism to otherwise mundane moments. The anchor of Mischak’s compositions continues to be the table. Typically a centralizing force within the home, tables are a focal point in Mischak’s work. As an active subject, they splinter and wreak havoc; as a support they prop up, shelter and contextualize the surrounding objects. By establishing these figurative, realistic elements, Mischak allows the viewer to access his dreamlike, psychological imaginings of relatable circumstances. Jerry Mischak was born in Newark, New Jersey, received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, and a MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He teaches painting and sculpture at the Rhode Island School of Design and the University of Rhode Island. He was awarded the Rhode Island State Council of the Arts fellowship in 2003 and the Howard Foundation Fellowship in 2001. His work has been reviewed by the New York Times, The New Yorker, Time-Out, CNN, The Washington Post and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Solo shows include: “Table and Chairs” at Jim Kempner Fine Art in NYC; “Din-Din” at Industry Gallery in Washington D.C.; and “Castillo de Pepino”, Sala de Exposiciones de la Fundacion Comillas, Spain.
Everyday Life (Untitled 20), 2019. Acrylic on chip board. 15 x 14�.
Everyday Life (Untitled 6), 2019. Acrylic on chip board. 15 x 14�.
Laboratory, 2019. Acrylic on Chip board. 11 1/2 x 12�.
Arrival, 2019. Acrylic on Chip board. 11 1/2 x 12�.
Everyday Life (Untitled 19), 2019. Acrylic on chip board. 15 x 14�.
Everyday Life (Untitled 12), 2019. Acrylic on chip board. 15 x 14�.
Everyday Life (Untitled 23), 2019. Acrylic on chip board. 15 x 14�.
Everyday Life (Untitled 30), 2019. Acrylic on chip board. 15 x 14�.
Back Fall, 2019. Acrylic on Chip board. 12 x 11 1/2”.
Tables Turned, 2019. Acrylic on canvas. 60 x 48�.
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. 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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